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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




Horace L. Woodward 



PATENTS 

A Talk to the Inventor 




How to Proceed in Order to Obtain Useful and 
Protective Patents, and Jtvoid Useless Ones, 
by Horace L. Woodward, Washington, D. C. 



COPYRIGHT, 1»10, BY H. l_. WOODWARD 



6EO. E. HOWARD PRESS 

WASHINGTON 

1910 



^1 



*\ 




HE writer has had considerable expe- 
rience in the preparation and prose- 
cution of patent applications, and 
having been in close touch with a 
widely varied class of inventors, has, 
from the observations made, evolved 
a method of handling the work of 
experienced as well as inexperienced 
inventors that will assure them a 
proper understanding of conditions 
attending the application for patents on their 
ideas. It is therefore the purpose of this book to 
explain as clearly as possible, without distract- 
ing references to the methods of any attorneys, 
the actual steps which the inventor should take 
in protecting himself, especially before filing an 
application, and what points he should make 
sure to be informed upon in connection with 
his invention. Also, there have been omitted 
profuse illustrations relating to matters not 
affecting the question of patents and the effi- 
cient prosecution of applications therefor. The 
book deals, too, with the development and impor- 
tance of invention in the progress of civilization, as well 
as the benefit it has been to those who exercised the 
faculty, and explains some of the methods of obtaining 
profit from inventions. If any, questions arise with the 
reader which are not covered '.herein, Mr. Woodward will 
be very glad to answer these* specially without cost. 

2 



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A Talk to the 
Inventor 




T IS almost entirely due to inventions of 
a mechanical and scientific nature that civ- 
ilization has advanced to its present stage 
and that mankind has been raised to the 
existing degree of refinement. The prog- 
ress of man from a state of savagery has 
been marked and induced by successive 
acts of invention. Perhaps the first of these was the 
formation of a club or spear by which animals might be 
more readily killed for food, and man was thus required 
to devote less time to the procurement of sustenance, which 
allowed the application of his thoughts more to social 
pursuits and the improvement of his surroundings. The 
discovery of the possibility of obtaining fire, the fash- 
ioning of clothing, the building of houses — each useful 
mechanical effort added to the improvement of the environ- 
ment of the human race. The fashioning of each ele- 
mentary form of machinery allowed an increased produc- 
tion of the commodity or article upon which it was used, 
and with less labor, so that the time of many persons 
was released from application to such work, and their 
minds left free to become active in other lines. 

It is so to-day. Each new machine or improvement in 
machines that lessens labor or effects some desirable change 
adds just so much to the advance of mankind to its highest 

3 



A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



development. Each lessens the necessity for the applica- 
tion of man's energy to the sordid struggle for food and 
covering in the manner of the untutored savage. All of 
us are now able to spend time in gaining education, and 
solving the problems of science and religion that at first 
was devoted to the hunt for food or in evading 
or combating the onslaught of various enemies which 
beset us. 

Effect of invention Invention has had a compelling effect on the course 



on History 



of history, the conception and perfection of gunpowder 
and the firearm being notably responsible for the sur- 
vival of the present European nations and the existence 
of the United States. 

The success of Alexander the Great, in conquering the 
known world of his time, was due to an idea of his 
father, Philip of Macedon. It will be remembered that 
Philip gained the ascendency in Greece because of his use 
of the "Macedonian Phalanx," a peculiar military forma- 
tion of men, which was his own invention; and Alex- 
ander utilized the same idea in the organization of his 
world-conquering force, which was not a very large army, 
but extremely efficient because of Alexander's tactics. Prior 
to the time of Philip, armies had fought very much after 
the fashion of a mob, the men marching in irregular order 
and fighting as they chose; but Philip organized them 
into companies, armed with long spears, which, on the 
field of battle, formed into a square several rows deep, the 
outermost men kneeling and presenting their spears out- 
wardly, while others stood immediately behind with their 
spears similarly disposed a short distance above those of 
the foremost, and archers could shoot their arrows from 
within the square. This formation proved unconquerable 
by the undisciplined armies to which it was opposed. 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 



To have made possible the change which has occurred Inventors Deserving 
in our state was deserving of reward, and in most ° ewar 
instances those who have evolved ideas of benefit were 
rewarded in a degree corresponding to the value of such 
ideas. In barbaric times, though, the reward was less 
certain than now, and perhaps the only benefit was derived 
from the inventor's own use of his idea, all others copy- 
ing it freely who learned of it and desired to use it. And 
there was at first probably no desire on the part of the 
originators of the improvements in our first crude equip- 
ment to prevent others from having the advantage of 
them. But beginning with the formation of large com- 
munities of people, with the consequent change of barter 
into "trade" — when manufacture began to be developed 
by persons devoting themselves to the making of some 
one or a few special things to be supplied to others who 
had not the time therefor — attempts were made by inventors 
to retain for themselves the benefits accruing from their 
useful ideas. At first, on account of the crudeness of the 
laws and their failure to recognize such a right as that 
of a monopoly of a given idea simply because some one 
person had first conceived it, it was necessary to maintain 
the greatest secrecy regarding the methods or processes 
by which such ideas were applied, in order to prevent them 
from becoming public property. 

In ancient times certain families would devote them- Protection in 
selves exclusively to some given art from generation to Ancient Times 
generation, and gradually would reach a high state of perfec- 
tion in the creation of their particular products, due to the 
devising of improved implements and methods of pro- 
duction. In order to maintain their profitable patronage 
and exclusive sale of such products, only certain persons 
were allowed to participate in the work, and these were 



A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



solemnly sworn to secrecy. Notable among the products 
developed in this way were the steel of Damascus, Vene- 
tian glass, the tempering of copper, etc. 

On account of the necessity for such methods the very 
arts mentioned have become lost to mankind in the par- 
ticular form in which they were practiced originally, 
although modern equivalents have been provided. Even 
to-day in some commercial establishments certain proc- 
esses are maintained in the greatest secrecy, where it is 
desired to protect them while being perfected, or to obtain 
a monopoly for a greater period than that of seventeen 
years afforded by the Patent Law. 

To-day the inventor is recognized in his character of a 
benefactor to civilization, and laws have been made giving 
him the full right to whatever returns he can derive from 
his ideas within a lengthy period, at the expiration of 
which, in order to prevent the entire loss of such ideas to 
mankind, they become the property of the public. It has 
so happened that many men have, under the action of these 
laws become extremely wealthy in the development of their 
inventions, some of them having been extremely poor and 
lowly in station at first, while the benefit to mankind in 
general cannot be calculated. 

The First Patents The first patents were granted by special acts of the 
sovereigns, but were not given in all cases to the inventors, 
the power being greatly abused at times, and monopolies 
conferred upon particular individuals, either as a matter 
of royal favor or as a means of replenishing the royal 
treasury. Magna Charter, or the Great Charter of Eng- 
land, was perhaps the first law effectively regulating the 
granting of patents, this being established in 1215. Still, 
many abuses were practiced until 1623, when, under 
James I, an effective statute was passed by parliament, lim- 
iting the granting of a patent to the inventor, or his legal 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 



representative, and for a term not exceeding fourteen 
years. The principal provisions of this law still hold in 
England, and it had considerable effect in moulding the 
United States Patent Statutes. The maximum term of 
the British Patent to-day is fourteen years. 



One of the most noted inventors in early modern times 
was Sir Richard Arkwright, born 1732, who at first was 
a barber, but through his construction of the spinning 
frame, so greatly facilitated the production of fabrics for 
clothing that he became one of the wealthiest men of the 
day and was knighted by George III, in 1786. Arkwright 
was not a machinist, nor even a very good mechanic, and 
required the assistance of a clockmaker for the perfection 
of his idea. This is one of the many instances showing 
that any person is capable of evolving ideas useful in 
application to arts with which he is not necessarily inti- 
mately associated, or with which he may not even be 
familiar. 



Early Inventors of 
Our Times 



Nearly all nations have contributed largely to the prog- inventors in All 
ress of invention. While printing is said to have been Natlons 
known in China and practiced in a crude way by the use 
of movable type, it was not until Johann Gutenberg of 
Strassburg, Germany, improved the appliances used in the 
art that it became notably less arduous than handwriting. 
William Caxton of England further perfected the art and 
made it a profitable branch of commerce, himself deriving 
a large fortune therefrom. The Dutch of Haarlem claim 
that one of their citizens named Coster invented printing 
in 1423, which is eighteen years before Gutenberg took 
it up, but, while it seems probable that Coster used mov- 
able type, this is no more than the Chinese had done in 
the twelfth century, and therefore is not as much an 
invention as the work of Gutenberg. 



A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



Electricity Electricity was discovered in a crude way and men- 
tioned as such by Thales, a Greek, about 600 years before 
Christ, when he noted the attraction of a piece of amber, 
when rubbed, for particles of other matter. 

The science was largely perfected and the application of 
the agent enlarged by William Gilbert of England in the 
sixteenth century. The first machine for creating the 
current, however, was produced in Germany. Volta, an 
Italian, invented the chemical battery about the year 1800, 
and did a great deal more in discovering the principles 
upon which the electrical action of the battery is based. 
Electricity has reached its highest development in the 
United States, where many inventors have derived consid- 
erable fortunes from their contributions to the science. 
The greater number of later inventions, however, com- 
prise simply successful mechanical applications of prin- 
ciples already exploited by various scientists. 

Thomas Edison, of to-day, in inventing the talking 
machine, created an entirely new field of invention, as 
did Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the magnetic 
telephone, both having become extremely wealthy as a 
result of their labors. A large number of other persons 
are also making their fortunes to-day from inventions 
which are merely improvements on the devices of these 
great earlier geniuses, and there is still room for further 
improvement in the same arts. Edison has also derived 
great profit from many other branches of invention besides 
talking machines, the most recent of his inventions being 
the perfection of the electrical storage battery in such 
a way that its cost is materially reduced, its life greatly 
prolonged, and its capacity for the storage of current 
increased. It has been estimated that a street car equipped 
with one of these may be operated at an expense of 1 cent 
a mile, which is much cheaper than any form of power at 
present available. Figured out in dollars and cents, it is 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 



9 



to the great interest of many electric railways to equip 
their lines with such cars, abandoning present long-distance 
transmission equipment; and the electric automobile will 
be advanced to a position superior to that of the gasoline 
car, which has hitherto held first place because of its 
lower cost of operation and maintenance. On this basis 
this one invention alone should be sufficient to make Mr. 
Edison a millionaire if he were not one already. 



It will be noted from the foregoing, and from much inventors Not 



that the reader may have learned elsewhere, that some of 
the most successful inventors were not highly trained or 
educated, and many have produced their best ideas in arts 
with which they were not intimately familiar at the start. 
Numbers of them were not sufficiently versed in mechanics 
to produce operative models embodying their ideas — in fact, 
very valuable inventions have been made by men who 
could not even make a clear or comprehensible drawing of 
the important details. Some of the most successful 
inventors to-day, like Arkwright, do not even attempt to 
work out the mechanical details of their ideas, but employ 
others to do so, notable among whom are Edison, who 
has a very large force of mechanics in his shops at 
Orange, N. J.; Mr. Emil Berliner, of Washington, and 
many other prominent men of this class. 

Sir Henry Bessemer was at one time an ordinary hand 
in a steel works, but became familiar with the simple 
principles utilized in the production of steel, and devised 
a simple method for their more effective application, which 
ultimately raised him to the highest position of wealth 
and influence. His idea consisted — in effect — simply in 
forcing a blast of air through molten iron, which changed 
its quality in the desired degree, producing steel at one- 
fifth its previous cost. This is now known as the Bessemer 
Process. 



Necessarily Highly 
Trained 



10 



A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



Instance of 

International 

Effect of Invention 



It is probably due, in a large measure, to the inventions 
of Sir Richard Arkwright and those of Edmund Cart- 
wright, who respectively produced the Power Loom and 
Carding Machine, that England gained the commanding 
position she now occupies among the nations of the 
world. Her wealth is admittedly due principally tc her 
manufacturing industries, which in early times consisted 
largely of the production of fabrics, so greatly fostered 
by the inventors named, of which manufacture England 
for a long period had a practical monopoly. Cartwright 
was not protected by patents, and was in a fair way to 
lose all the benefit of his ideas, but Parliament, in recog- 
nition of the universal adoption of his machines, voted 
him a grant of £10,000, equivalent to $50,000 (and a dollar 
in those days was worth ten times as much as it is to-day). 



America's Advance It is undoubted that the great advancement of the 
people of America during the past few hundred years, 
which has placed them in the lead of all the peoples on 
earth, is principally due to their great inventive activity. 
The per capita wealth of the United States is now greater 
than that of any other country, while some of her citizen? 
have accumulated vast fortunes, most of them founded on 
the commercial application of various inventions, and many 
being the direct product of sales of patented devices. The 
importance to this country's progress of a single one of 
the great inventions of her people was evidenced in New 
York in 1909, when Fulton's perfection of the steamboat 
was commemorated together with the discovery of the 
Hudson River, in a monster celebration. And yet, all 
Fulton did was to apply the steam engine, perfected by 
James Watts, the Scotchman, about 1782, to a new use. 
In turn, Watts had only changed the method of opera- 
tion of the engine of Thomas Newcoman, invented in 1663. 
But the first steam engine with a piston engine was made 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 11 



by a Frenchman. The first known steam-operated device 
was a sort of turbine made by Hero 120 years before Christ. 
Fulton worked out his idea in the city of Washington, 
District of Columbia, with a small model which he carried 
to a small placid stretch of water in Rock Creek, in which 
Fulton was able to wade to rescue the toylike device when 
it failed to operate. 

It may be considered by some that in order to be successful 
one must produce a great invention in the nature of a pioneer 
device, but, as will be apparent from the foregoing remarks, 
frequently the adaptation of an old device to a particular use 
is of greater value than the original invention by itself, and 
many improvements upon old ideas have been greater in 
value than the originals. Eli Whitney's cotton gin, while 
generally considered a pioneer, was simply an improved 
machine for accomplishing the work of the carding machine 
of Cartwright mentioned above. Yet it was such a great 
improvement, even though quite simple, that it gave a 
tremendous impulse to the use of cotton in the manufac- 
ture of textiles, and produced a great fortune for its 
inventor, w r hile benefiting our country to an incalculable 
extent. L. M. Singer patented a number of improvements 
upon the sewing machine, which had been previously devel- 
oped to a very satisfactory stage by Lyman Howe. Singer's 
fortune at his death amounted to several millions of dollars, 
and amounted to considerable more than Howe realized, 
although the latter's fortune was immense. 

New opportunities are presented every day for profit- °PP° rtu °ities 
able activity in the lines of invention, and there are many 
such that stand continually open for all who will endeavor 
to take advantage of them. 

The Wright Brothers were not especially trained in 
scientific lines before beginning their work on flying 
machines, having been simply engaged in the business of 



12 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



repairing bicycles in Dayton, Ohio; yet to them is due 
the credit for having been the first to perfect an operative 
aeroplane. And this has opened a new field for inven- 
tion in which all persons have equal opportunity. Wilbur 
and Orville Wright are already worth several hundred 
thousand dollars. Glenn H. Curtiss, who followed the 
Wrights, is making a large fortune in perfecting details 
in such structures, and especially in engines for aero- 
planes; yet the best constructions in aeroplanes and motors 
are unsatisfactory, being too heavy and clumsy. The bal- 
ancing of these machines is extremely difficult and dan- 
gerous, and as indicating the value of a means for accom- 
plishing such balance automatically it may be stated that 
Mr. Curtiss arranged to pay $275,000 to a Mr. Herring for 
the use of such a mechanism in the Curtiss machines. But 
Mr. Herring failed to provide the mechanism as prom- 
ised, and there is still an opening for some one to invent 
and patent such a device. 

It is interesting in this connection to note that an 
operative and practicable flying machine was made by 
Archytas, a Greek, about 400 years before the birth of 
Christ. It was in the form of a "flying dove" and was 
formed of wood, being hollow and operated by means of 
compressed air. 

The first ordinary balloon of record was made in France 
in 1783 by the Montgolfier brothers. 

An item appeared in the newspapers in the latter part 
of July, 1909, stating that the Carnegie Steel Company had 
arranged to spend $3,000,000 in erecting a new plant espe- 
cially for the manufacture of a new type of car wheel 
invented shortly before by Mr. C. C. Slick, and tested 
on a number of railroads. There had been hundreds of 
inventions in car wheels patented, but the result of the 
test of this wheel and the orders received made it evident 
that the improvement made by Mr. Slick would induce the 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 13 



railroads to practically discard all other wheels and replace 
them with this new type. The ownership of this patent, 
therefore, which is simply one improvement among sev- 
eral hundred others in car wheels, carries with it prac- 
tically a monopoly of the sale of car wheels, and some idea 
of the value of the patent may be gained from the amount 
to be spent on the plant for its manufacture, above stated. 
Many other persons, too numerous to mention, are at 
the present moment deriving munificent incomes from their 
inventions. The reader is familiar with many stories of 
success in invention and many instances have come under 
the personal observation of the writer, a large number 
involving patents which he was instrumental in prosecuting 
to a favorable conclusion in the Patent Office. 

"Letters Patent," which is the proper title of what is United states 
generally understood by the term "patent," are granted otters Patent 
by reason of a provision in the original Constitution of 
our country, which, in Article I, section 6, clause 8, con- 
ferred upon the Congress power to pass laws "to pro- 
mote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing 
for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive 
right to their respective writings and discoveries." It is 
upon this language that the patent is based, and there- 
fore only upon the authors or inventors can these rights 
be conferred. 

Congress was not long in taking advantage of this 
expression of the Constitution, and in April, 1790, fourteen 
years after the Declaration of Independence, the Patent 
Office was established. 

Two, three, or more persons may make joint application Who May Apply 
for and have a patent issued with the names of all thereon, 
but in the case of one person assisting another with money 
in the perfecting and patenting of an idea, the patent 



14 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



application can be made only in the name of the true 
inventor. But by filing an assignment of whatever interest 
the person supplying the funds is to receive, the patent 
will be issued jointly to the parties; and three or four 
persons will thus be recognized upon the filing of cor- 
responding assignments. 

Broadly speaking, a patent may be granted to any person 
on earth except an employe of the Patent Office. There 
is no limit in the age or sex of those to whom such 
protection is given, and foreigners are given equal pro- 
tection with our own citizens when they apply under 
proper circumstances; provision is even made for the 
granting of patents to insane persons and prisoners in 
penal institutions. Employes of the Government other 
than the Patent Office itself, and members of the Army 
and Navy are all entitled to obtain such a grant covering 
ideas which they develop, whether these are the result of 
their work in which they are engaged, or not, unless it 
is some device which they are being employed to perfect, 
when there might be circumstances which would bar their 
title. 

Term of u. s. The term of the United States Patent is seventeen 
Patent years, and there are no provisions for a shorter period 
of protection except in a Caveat, which extends over one 
year, and in "design patents," which may be obtained for 
periods of three and one-half, seven, and fourteen years. 
In all cases, however, as stated above, the invention is cred- 
ited to the actual inventor only, or to a number of persons if 
they jointly invented the idea to be protected. Inventors 
are required to make oath to the fact that they believe the 
matter involved is of their own original conception. 

The spirit of the patent laws is based upon an appre- 
ciation of the benefit possible to mankind by the making 
known of useful ideas, which benefit is apparent from a 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 15 



review of history, and therefore it is practically true that 
any useful, beneficial, desirable idea may properly form the 
subject of a patent, which will be granted thereon in 
return for the disclosure of its details by the inventor. 

There are several forms of patent, covering structural 
inventions, processes, compositions, and designs which are 
new and useful. 

The copyright is practically another form of patent and 
is intended to protect new writings and literary composi- 
tions of various kinds of literature, art objects such as 
paintings, photographs, music, and the like. Copyright 
protection is granted for a period of twenty-eight years. 

There is also provided under the copyright laws a form 
of protection for prints and labels used as advertising 
or applied to articles of manufacture. The various forms 
of patents, trade-marks, prints, and labels, and copyrights 
are dealt with in detail in the latter part of this work. 

The copyrights are handled in the Copyright Office, a 
division in the Library of Congress, under the direction of 
a "Register of Copyrights." It was the purpose of Con- 
gress to place the registration of prints and labels in 
charge of the Copyright Office and a law was passed to 
that effect, but owing to its having been invalid, prints 
and labels are still registered in the Patent Office. 

The trade-mark gives protection in the nature of n 
patent for designs and titles used in trade for the dis- 
tinguishing of the products of a particular firm, and mav 
be obtained for a period of twenty years, with the privi- 
lege of renewal for terms of twenty years. 

All the forms of patent protection, except the copyright, where Patents 
are handled in the Patent Office, which is established in a Are Handled 
marble building near the center of the city of Wash- 
ington, District of Columbia, the building covering the 
area of two city blocks, between Seventh and Ninth, and 



16 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



"F" and "G" Streets Northwest. The business of the 
Patent Office, however, long since outgrew the capacity of 
this building, and the quarters therein are very crowded, 
owing to the enormous volume of business which requires 
a tremendous clerical force; and there is hardly room for 
the filing of the valuable records of previous patents. Many 
valuable models which were formerly retained on exhibition 
in glass cases have been sold at auction, and other incon- 
veniences suffered by the Department by which its effi- 
ciency is hampered. 

Patent System The work of the office is conducted under the supervision 
of the Commissioner of Patents, who is appointed by the 
President of the United States, and under him there is a 
Board of three Examiners-in-chief and an Examiner of 
Interferences, all of whom act at times in the capacity of 
a judge, deciding the very intricate questions relating to 
patentability, proper methods of practice, and inter- 
ferences between applications for patent for the same 
ideas pending at the same time in the office. There 
are then forty-two Principal Examiners, each in charge 
of a Division devoted to the examination of certain 
classes of inventions and under whom are several hundred 
assistant examiners, all of whom require to be highly edu- 
cated and specially trained in the particular branches of 
science involved in their work as well as to possess a 
thorough knowledge of the Patent Practice. The Patent 
Office also at one time printed weekly the Official Gazette, 
containing excerpts of the claims and illustrations of all 
patents issued and trade-marks registered, together with 
the reports of all decisions of the Commissioner in appeals 
and the decisions of the United States Circuit Court of 
Appeals, when there are decisions by that court in patent 
causes. While this publication is now printed at the Gov- 
ernment Printing Office, where all printing for the Gov- 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 17 



ernment departments is done, there is nevertheless a con- 
siderable amount of editorial work and supervision neces- 
sary in its preparation for the printers, which must be 
done at the Patent Office. There is also required a large 
force for keeping the enormous files of issued patents in 
order and supplying copies thereof to persons ordering 
them. There is a Record Division in charge of an official 
who has about fifty clerks under him, by whom the impor- 
tant work of recording assignments and licenses of various 
kinds is accomplished. 

The Patent Office is the only Government department to 
return a profit above its operating expenses, the surplus to 
its credit in the United States Treasury being about 
$7,000,000, and yet it is the least commodiously quartered, 
possibly excepting one or two. 

An inventor may file and prosecute his own application, Who May Prosecute 
the Patent Examiners giving such a case the same careful Fatent Applications 
consideration that is accorded the cases of the most 
noted attorneys, but, under such circumstances, the interests 
of the applicant are certain to suffer in some way, owing 
to inexperienced handling, if the patent is allowed at all. 
Only after considerable experience and training is a 
person competent to handle such work in a thorough 
manner, and many persons, even after considerable expe- 
rience, do not seem to develop the necessary ability to 
obtain all that is possible in the way of protection in the 
average case. 

Many lawyers of the greatest ability in other lines 
cannot properly conduct patent prosecution, as, in addition 
to the necessity of familiarity with the very peculiar and 
technical customs of practice before the Office, an aptitude 
for mechanics and sciences of widely various characters is 
requisite, and in addition an acquaintance with various 
methods of manufacture is desirable in order to be able 
2 



18 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



to appreciate the value of peculiar details of structure 
which might not be apparent to the untrained mind. 

The Patent Office itself, therefore, in its book of rules 
governing the presentation and handling of applications 
filed, strongly urges the inventor, in Rule 17, "unless 
familiar with such matters, to employ a competent patent 
attorney, as the value of patents depends largely upon 
the skilful preparation of the specification and claims/' 

Patent Records There is provided in the Patent Office a large hall sur- 
rounded by galleries containing minutely classified copies 
of all the United States patents which have been issued, the 
center of the hall containing a compactly arranged series 
of long desks for the use of inventors and attorneys in 
examining the records, and throughout the building are 
stored many printed duplicates of most of the patents 
which may be purchased by any one at a nominal cost. 
A large force of employes is maintained to assist in the 
examination of these records and supplying copies of 
patents which are desired, and it is through this means 
that the advisability of filing applications is ordinarily 
determined. 

It is very desirable that the inventor should see copies 
of the nearest approaching patents, even if they would not 
prevent the allowance of an application for patent on his 
creation. A study of the specifications of such patents 
will be of great value in giving him an understanding of 
the limits of his invention by making him thoroughly 
acquainted with the state of the art. Also — which is of 
considerable importance — he may be able thereby to per- 
ceive possibilities of improving and further perfecting his 
own idea. This matter is dealth with in detail under the 
heading "What to Do to Get Protection." 

When an application is filed, its nature is considered 
in the Patent Office and it is decided what class it belongs 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 



19 



to and assigned to the Examiner having control of such 
class, irrespective of the title given by the inventor to 
the subject of the application. The designations of various 
devices is arbitrary, and no fancy names or matter in 
the nature of advertising is allowed to appear in the 
application. 

Considerable latitude is allowed in the preparation of an what An 
application, but the rules of the Patent Office require that Application 
the papers shall include a petition, a specification, drawings Con8Wt8 0f 
(when necessary), and an oath, each of these following 
certain lines. 

The official drawings must be made upon paper of a official Drawings 
certain quality and size, and the size of the views is lim- 
ited to a space of 8 by ioy 2 inches. India ink must be 
used, the showing of various details being required to 
be in lines of peculiar character, the quality of the shading 
being fixed, and arbitrary rules being laid down for show- 
ing different materials and elements common in mechanics. 
The drawings are not like the usual mechanical drawings, 
however, and Patent draftsmen require greater ability than 
mechanical draftsmen, as a rule. 

The cost of applications is largely governed by the 
number of sheets of drawings required, but, while the 
Rules of Practice stipulate that the inventions shall be 
illustrated in the fullest detail, "and two or more sheets 
should be used if one does not give sufficient room," yet 
excessive illustration tending to increase the inventor's 
expense is prohibited. 



The specification should be prepared with the utmost The specification 
care, and after careful consideration of the history of 
the art to which it pertains, the advantages of the improve- 
ment effected by the device, and the possibilities of its 



916,318. 



SPARK PLUG. 

£ miOATIOB riLBD VAT 7. 1908. 



Patented Mar. 23, 1909. 




J??T57/e 



<21 




<*V 



Reproduction of the illustrations in a patent obtained by Mr. Woodward, illus- 
trating the necessity for showing every detail of construction. While this 
inve?ition is primarily a spark plug, the claims obtained by Mr. Woodward 
cover the application of the important details in many other situations in 
electrical fittings of any kind 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 21 



future development. This work should not be done in a 
rush unless absolutely essential, for while a specification 
may be prepared in a comparatively short time, if the 
person doing this work is endeavoring to make a record or 
is being hurried, the interests of the inventor will suffer. 

The specification should present a brief explanation of 
the conditions existing before the conception of the inven- 
tion, which conditions created a need for some such device ; 
and, perhaps, a statement of the result of the endeavors 
of other inventors; this, in order to make apparent by 
the subsequent disclosure the merit of the improvement 
set forth, for it is frequently the case that an invention 
will be held by the Patent Office Examiner to be antici- 
pated by a patented device having an entirely different 
object and, perhaps, applied in a different art. Conse- 
quently, the recital of the unsatisfactory condition of the 
art for which the invention is intended, and a demon- 
stration of the fact that it accomplishes an advance over 
previous methods, will frequently induce favorable con 
sideration of the case, when otherwise the Examiner would 
be antagonistic. 

The specification should then contain a brief reference 
to the various figures in the drawings, explaining what 
the nature of the views are, followed by an ample detailed 
and exhaustive description of, and explanation of the 
cooperation of the various parts, if a structural patent; 
or an equally thorough description of the method, if a 
process is to be protected; or of the constituents and 
how they are combined, if a composition patent is 
applied for. 

It is generally appreciated by attorneys and experienced Description of the 
inventors that it is on the manner of handling the Mention 
description that the breadth of the claims obtainable and a 
large part of the value of the patent depends. In case 



22 A TALK TO THE INVENTOB 



of litigation — which is always a real though remote possi- 
bility — the courts will look beyond the claims and examine 
the specification to decide upon the interpretation to be 
given the claims to determine the intent of the inventor 
and the resultant novelty of the device. 

The Claims Notwithstanding the importance of the careful handling 
of the specification, the claims are the real protective por- 
tions of the patent, and in the drawing of these excep- 
tional ability to perceive small points of advantage over 
the prior art is at times involved, while at others, when 
there is a possibility that the device is broadly new, an 
ability to assume an elevated viewpoint in contemplating 
the subject of the application is required in order to avoid 
too close an adherence to the particular and specific details 
of the device. In conjunction with the preparation of the 
claims, if the examination of the Patent Office records 
has shown that the art is highly developed and the device 
to be protected has effected but a slight advance beyond 
prior inventions, it is necessary, while describing all the 
elements thoroughly, to make everything possible bear in 
such a way as to impress upon the Examiner the great 
novelty and value of the particular improvement accom- 
plished, no matter how slight, the remainder of the ele- 
ments described serving simply as a proper foundation 
for the novel portions. 

On the other hand, if the search of the Patent Office 
records has shown nothing approximating the general 
structure of the new idea, it is necessary to describe the 
complete device in such a manner that its use and prin- 
ciples will be clearly understood and the possibilities of 
its application in modified forms suggested. Yet, there 
should be an accurate and detailed description of the most 
important groups of elements in order that the terms 
of the claim may be limited gradually to any of these in 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 



23 



event that an unexpected citation (possibly anticipating . 
a portion of the invention, from art) discloses a parallel 
application of principles. 

While, of course, the patent with broad claims is to be Narrow Claims 
desired as having possibilities of greater value than the Often Valuable 
one with narrow claims, yet it is not the rule that broad 
patents are the most valuable, and, as pointed out in the 
instances of fortunes from inventions in the beginning 
of this book, some of the greatest have been derived 
from improvements upon already patented devices; but 
these improvements were protected as broadly as possible 
in view of the conditions existing in the particular branches 
of mechanics. 



It is, of course, obvious that if one has conceived an 
improvement on an existing device by which it would 
be made to do better work, a greater demand would be 
created for the improved device than for the old one, or 
it might be made worth while for the older construction 
to be discarded in order that the new could be adopted 
Such a condition usually represents great possibilities from 
a monetary standpoint, and the fact that his entire inven- 
tion is not new should not always deter the inventor from 
obtaining a patent. 



Value of Slight 
Improvements 



It should be borne in mind, also, that the same amount Possibility of Profit 
of energy put by the average person into the development 
of a proper patent that would be put into an ordinary 
business venture by that person can hardly fail to yeild 
a return of profit. And even when there are other devices 
of efficiency equal to that of the newly patented article, 
there is no reason why there should not be room on the 
market for the two and a fair profit, if not munificent 
return be made to the inventor for his idea. It is the 



24 



A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



same case as one in which a large number of persons are 
engaged in the same business in one city — they are all 
able to make a living, and several of them may make 
good fortunes at the same time. 

It is the case, however, that many patents are granted 
for details of novel construction which are of such slight 
consequence as to be practically valueless, for they are 
frequently granted to inventors who were or are under 
the impression that their ideas were broadly new and that 
protection could be obtained covering their general con- 
struction rather than some detail having no relation to its 
use as a whole. 



Importance of 

Seeing Prior 

Patents 



It is, therefore, of the greatest importance — and I wish 
to forcibly impress this fact upon the reader — that, no 
matter who the attorney may be, the inventor can ordi- 
narily only be properly acquainted with the real degree 
of novelty in his device by having an opportunity to 
inspect the disclosures of the patents on prior devices of a 
similar nature as presented by the records in the Patent 
Office. He should preferably, also, have advice from his 
attorney as to the details which could probably be pro- 
tected by a patent, though it is not possible for any one 
to state absolutely in advance of the filing of the appli- 
cation what the breadth of protection will be. This can 
only be decided by the Patent Office in its official action 
upon an appliction. 

A recent instance of possibilities of this kind recently 
came to the attention of the writer in the course of his 
routine work. In this particular case a client submitted 
sketches and description of a cornfender for farm wagons, 
upon which a search of the Patent Office records was 
made. Briefly, his idea was to construct a four-sided 
frame made of two long horizontal rods having secured 
across their ends two pairs of parallel upright pieces or 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 25 



standards, which projected below the rods and could 
straddle the side boards of the wagon-body to support the 
frame thereabove. A wire netting stretched over the 
frame was to form a permanent part of the device, so 
that corn or other material thrown into the wagon from 
the side opposite the screen would be prevented from pass- 
ing entirely over the vehicle, striking against the screen, 
from which it would fall into the wagon-bed. 

There was found in the Patent Office a patent for a 
device very similar in construction, the difference, broadly 
considered, being only one of the uprights at each end of 
the frame was extended across the ends of the rods, which 
in this case comprised a part of a rectangular pipe frame 
having netting stretched thereover. 

And yet, it was possible to truthfully report this idea 
patentable ! 

This was due to the fact that, aside from the difference 
in the formation of the frame (which in itself possessed 
novel features which might support a narrow claim), the 
inventor had described a peculiar method of securing 
the netting at each end of the frame, which was 
different from anything in the nearest resembling devices 
and appeared to be entirely new. There was also a novel 
feature in the fact that one of the uprights was extended 
upwardly above the frame, so that reins could be hooked 
thereover, though this might be anticipated in other 
classes. The inventor was, of course, advised of the con- 
ditions existing. 

If the inventor had been simply advised that the device 
was patentable, a patent could probably have been obtained 
which might or might not have been of value. But it 
would not have been in effect a patent on a cornfender, 
but a patent on a method of fastening wire netting to a 
support. 



26 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



When Limited There are times when such minor points are of sufficient 

rotectionis i m p 0T fa nct anc { value to warrant an application for patent 
Desirable r . . 

even though originally the inventor expected to cover a 

broader idea, but the inventor himself should be placed in 
a position to determine whether to apply for such protec- 
tion or not, and it is ethically a part of the duty of 
the attorney to give his clients such an understanding of 
their position as will enable them to decide intelligently. 

If the invention is in the nature of an improvement on 
a device already in use, of course, the inventor can only 
expect a patent covering such improvement, but it is fre- 
quently possible to protect improvements in such a way 
as to include their application to many other uses than the 
one, or more, specifically described in the specification. 

Official The Patent Office applies the term "improvement" 
"improvements" broadly to all inventions, but some of these include com- 
pletely new devices, while other are simply changes in or 
additions to existing structures which are actual improve- 
ments. In the case of such an improvement, the com- 
plete device upon which the improvement is made may 
be illustrated and described in the application whether 
the original appliance is patented or not, but the pro- 
tection of the resulting patent, expressed in the claims 
can only cover the actual improvement, and does not give 
the holder of the patent the right to use the original device 
unless unpatented, or the patent thereon has expired. But 
the patent on the improvement bars the owner of the orig- 
inal device from using such improvement. 

In the event that an improvement is conceived on an 
already patented machine, which might result in making 
the improvement useless because of the antagonism of the 
patentee, it may be possible to construct a machine for 
a like purpose using different elements which would not 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 27 



be covered by the patent and the inventor would then be 
entitled to use such changed machine. 

When, therefore, an improvement on a patented device is Broad Protection 
to be protected, it is desirable to do this in such a way as fcr Slight 
to not limit its application as claimed to the exact details m P rovements 
of the original device if possible, though this is necessary 
in highly developed arts at times. Here the skill of the 
attorney is severely tested, and the value of the patent 
depends entirely upon the conscientious work and pains- 
taking care in the preparation of each claim and the pres- 
entation of each argument. If an inventor finds himself 
in this position, it is well to have an attorney advise him 
exactly as to the matter covered by the claims in the 
patent, in order to find out whether a suitable machine 
can be made with different elements. As stated before, 
an equal amount of skill of a somewhat different nature 
is required in the proper protection of a device that is 
found broadly new, or independent of any other invention. 

It should be borne in mind that the applicant obtains Legal 
no more than the degree of protection ASKED FOR, interpretation 
even if he is entitled to more. Also, the patent gives only 
protection for the degree of novelty expressed in the 
claims. Thus it might be possible for one person to 
actually infringe the invention shown in the drawings of 
a patent and perhaps described in the specification, but, 
if not sufficiently protected by the claims, there would be no 
legal redress. 

In order to give the reader readily-understood examples Broad and Narrow 
of broad and narrow claims, the writer will cite a case claims frotn 

. . Actual Practice 

occurring within his recent personal practice, in which 
both kinds were included in the same application. 



28 



A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



Mr. Fritz Marti, of Berne, Switzerland, submitted sketches 
of a temperature-operated motor as shown in the illustra- 
tion entitled "Inventor's sketch." The invention as sub- 
mitted included a coil of glass tube carried around a 
hollow drum hermetically sealed and having one end of 
the tube projected into it, the other end of the tube being 
open so that no air could enter or leave the drum except 
through the spiral tube. A quantity of mercury is intro- 
duced into the middle of the tube. When the tempera- 
ture rises, the air in the drum will expand and be forced 




<?_, 



INVENTOR S SKETCH 

A, base; B* revolvable, hollow drum; C, standards supporting the drum; 
D, spiral tube entering the drum at the left, open at the right hand end; E y 
mercury in central portion of tube; F t gear; G, trunnions or axle of drum. 



outward through the tube, and when the temperature 
falls the air in the tube contracts, drawing more in 
through the tube. The movement of the air in the tube 
displaces the mercury, so that the balance of the drum 
and tube is disturbed, causing it to rotate slightly in 
recovering this balance under the action of gravitation. 
It is not necessary to give more than the above for a 
conception of the operation of the device, though the orig- 
inal specification in the application for patent thereon filled 
about nine pages. Six claims were included in the case 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 29 



as first presented, and in the subsequent prosecution the 
number was increased to ten. One of the narrow claims 
(though one could be drawn more limited) reads as 
follows : 

"4. A device of the class described comprising a rotat- 
ably mounted hollow drum, a tube spirally coiled about 
said drum, one end of said tube communicating with the 
interior of the drum, the other end of said tube being 
open and adapted to receive a quantity of mercury suf- 
ficient to fill one-half of one of the coils in the tube, to be 
moved by expansion or contraction of the air within the 
drum, due to the variation of atmospheric temperature 
and density, to rotate said drum." 
The broadest of the claims in the case reads as follows : 
"7. A device of the class described comprising a fluid- 
operated machine, a chamber member, the interior of which 
is isolated from the ambient atmosphere, and connections 
between the interior of the chamber member and the 
fluid-operated machine whereby a difference of potential 
in the density of matter in the chamber member and the 
atmosphere will be caused to act upon said fluid-operated 
machine." 

At this point it is well to call to the attention of the Care involves 
reader how much the interests of Mr. Marti depended upon Greater Work 
conscientious work and pains in the presentation of the 
case. Not only could the device have been described in 
a clear manner on one-half the pages actually filled with 
the specification and requiring less than one-half the time 
to prepare, but by filing three or four claims, including 
the narrow one above, the case would have been in such 
form that the attorney would have been positive of obtain- 
ing the allowance of the narrow claim and perhaps some or 
all of the others, and the case could have been placed in 
proper form for allowance in a brief reply to the first 



30 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 

1 

action on the case by the Patent Office, involving less than 
one-half the expense for its prosecution incurred by the 
method actually pursued. 

Allowance it happened that the first Patent Office action in the case 
Obtainable Q £ ^ r ^arti indicated a number of claims for allowance 
and simply required formal corrections, which might have 
been made at once and the case passed to issue as it stood. 
The formal corrections were made by Mr. Woodward, 
but instead of passing the case to issue, as it stood, he 
went further in an effort to obtain the broad claim 7 and 
presented three other additional claims covering various 
possibilities in the variation of the construction of the 
device. 

Giving attention particularly to the claim 4 above, it 
may be seen that while this claim in itself is not a narrow 
one, allowing, as it does, a great latitude in the manner 
of constructing the drum, its mounting, and the connec- 
tion between the tube and drum, yet it is limited to a 
drum mounted for rotation, and the tube connected to and 
coiled around it, and having a quantity of mercury therein. 

Now it happens that a great many variations in the 
construction and arrangement of the elements of the 
device are possible, which would avoid such a claim, and 
if it were the broadest in the case, the inventor would 
have scant protection against infringement of his idea by 
others and he would not have sufficient grounds for object- 
ing. For instance, it is possible to mount a spiral tube for 
revolution independently, and connect it with a stationary 
reservoir by means of a flexible connection, and as claim 4 
specifies that the tube is carried on a revoluble drum, such 
difference would completely avoid conflict. 

Another claim, however, leaves the location and mount- 
ing of the reservoir indefinite, so that it may be separate 
and stationary, or rigidly connected to and revoluble with 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 31 

the tube, and this claim would dominate a great many 
modifications which might be made by persons seeking to 
make use of the principles of the device without authority. 
It is not possible, however, for an attorney, or any one 
else, to always conceive all the various modifications of 
an idea that are possible, in order to draw claims antici- 
pating each of these, and it is therefore necessary for the 
attorney, in preparing the broad claims in an application 
to resolve the device as nearly as possible into basic ele- 
ments and principles, expressing these without involving 
too definite a limitation to the actual construction. 

Considering claim 7, however, it will be apparent even to Slight Limitation 
the layman that it has only one definitely defined element, of Broad Claim 
which is the chamber member, and even that may have 
any possible form, while the revoluble tube may be replaced 
by anything in creation that can be operated by fluid — a 
pump, an air engine of any type — rotary or reciprocating — 
or even a fan disposed before the opening of the reservoir 
to receive the draft or air produced by the expansion of 
the air within the chamber. Any suitable matter, other 
than air, however, may be disposed within the chamber 
for the operation of the device, under the terms of claim 7. 

Under claim 4, if that were the broadest, it might be 
possible that the original inventor would derive no benefit 
whatever from his invention while others might reap a rich 
harvest from the development of a machine operating on 
the same principle but using a little different construction. 
Of course, the inventor might not lose all, for he might 
have protection for the most desirable form of his inven- 
tion, while those avoiding his claims probably would not 
operate as satisfactorily, but even then he could not ask 
as high a price for his rights as he could if he monopo- 
lized the entire field possible for the application of his 



32 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



principle, which is accomplished by claim 7, as set forth. 
And this may easily mean many thousands of dollars to 
the inventor in the long run. 

As stated before, however, some applications cannot cover 
the basic idea of the devices to which they apply, but only 
some improvement thereon which perfects their operation 
or cheapens their manufacture, or which are of advantage 
in some other way. 

But the same principles apply, and it rests entirely with 
the attorney to protect a slight improvement broadly enough 
to give the inventor its complete control, or to give hasty 
and consequenly inefficient attention to the prosecution, and 
produce claims which are so limited in their terms that 
they may possibly be avoided by another person desiring 
to make a similar device. 

Appeals In the prosecution of applications it frequently happens 
that the Primary Examiner refuses to allow claims to which 
the attorney believes his client is fully entitled, and in such 
cases it frequently is possible to obtain their allowance by 
an appeal to the Board of Examiners-in-chief, or if rejected 
by them, by a further appeal to the Commissioner of 
Patents himself. This is due to the fact that with many 
of the examiners where there is doubt in their minds 
as to the propriety of allowing the disputed claim they 
prefer to avoid the responsibility of deciding and leave 
the matter open for appeal and decision by the next higher 
tribunal. It is in this way that the principal claims in 
many valuable patents have been obtained. 

An appeal to the Examiners-in-chief involves the pay- 
ment of a Government fee of $10 and attorney's fee, in a 
simple case, of $25. The Government fee in an appeal to 
the Commissioner is $20 and an attorney's fee of $40. 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 33 

Interferences occur only in extremely rare cases, prob- Jnterferences 
ably less than one in a hundred, the conduct of such 
cases does not involve the payment of any Government 
fee, but are somewhat expensive on account of the large 
amount of work on the part of the attorney required, the 
expense depending largely on the amount of testimony to 
be taken, which has to be given before a proper judiciary 
officer. It is always desirable, however, and frequently 
only necessary to carry the case as far as the filing and 
inspection of the preliminary statements, as by inspection 
of these one may learn of the earliest date claimed by 
the opponent, and determine whether it is advisable to 
proceed further or not There is a possibility that the 
opponent will give up at this point. The preparation 
and filing of preliminary statements cost $15, including 
an inspection of the statements and files of the opposing 
party and report of the dates and prints of his drawings. 
There are other questions to be considered at the same 
time, such as the suggestion of additional claims which 
should be admitted, and decision as to whether a motion can 
be made for dissolution for any reason. Such actions 
must be taken within a period of thirty days, and in mak- 
ing a report upon the preliminary condition of the case 
the inventor will be advised of such, and given an oppor- 
tunity to take such further steps as he desires. 



Kinds of Patents 
Provided by Law 




HE United States provides a large number 
of different forms of patents for pro- 
tecting various kinds of original ideas 
embodied in different ways. The "mechan- 
ical" or structural patent covers the gen- 
eral run of inventions, and under this 
head are protected devices formed of 
solid matter and having peculiar function, ranging 
from a spoon to a typesetting machine or a floating dry- 
dock. The "Process" patent is designed to shield the 
inventors of new methods of forming various fabrics, mate- 
rials, chemical products, or manufactured things. This and 
the structural patent, treated in detail in the foregoing 
pages, are related and are prepared in a similar manner, 
including specification, claims, and drawings, and the costs 
are the same in each — $75 in a one-sheet case. They 
each run for a period of seventeen years, and a new 
device may form the basis for an application for both, 
upon which two patents may be granted, one for the 
article, and the other for the peculiar process of produc- 
ing it. If one discovers a method by which an article 
can be produced more cheaply, quickly, or efficiently than 
before, such method or process may be patented. Occa- 
sionally the process involved in producing a newly invented 
device is applicable to the manufacture of different articles, 
and for that reason a patent thereon may be of equal or 
34 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 35 



greater value than a patent upon the novel device itself. 
I will advise clients carefully upon such points. 

"Composition" patents may be obtained for compounds, Composition 
medicinal or otherwise, in which there is a novel com- Patents 
bination of ingredients, and such things as "patent" medi- 
cines, harness dressings, soaps, polishes, and the like are 
usually protected in this way. In this connection it may 
be stated that it has been occasionally found more desirable 
to obtain registration for a good trade-mark on a novel 
compound for the reason that the trade-mark may be 
extended indefinitely (as will be explained), while the com- 
position patent expires in seventeen years; in the former 
instance the ingredients remaining secret and in the latter 
case becoming public property, and free to be made by 
any one. The patent, of course, affords protection for 
a period of seventeen years, but there would be in some 
instances considerable difficulty in proving the use of 
the formula set forth in the patent. 

Usually, however, patent protection is proper, but it is 
also desirable to further guard such inventions by register- 
ing a trade-mark therefor. It is also frequently possible 
and desirable in addition to make application for a process 
patent covering the method of mixing or creating the 
compound. Usually, such patents do not require draw- 
ings, though in some cases they do, but if not illustrated, 
the cost of such patents is slightly less than that of a 
structural patent, the total being $70. The same care and 
ability are required in the preparation and prosecution of 
process and composition patents as are involved in struc- 
tural patents. 



The inventor frequently has the opportunity to obtain a 
valuable patent on the proper development of an idea 
that at first seems to be old. This may occur in the 
perfection of the manner in which a device is constructed 
whereby it is cheapened, either by the need for less labor 



Process Patents 



36 



A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



in its assembling, or because a lesser quantity of material 
is needed, or because a cheaper material may be used. 
Also, it occasionally happens that a particular compound 
or article is in itself old and well known, but it may 
develop that a new way of compounding of or forming 
it is involved, upon which an equally valuable patent can 
be obtained. The process patent, covering the method of 
forming a device, may frequently be obtained at the same 
time that the structural patent is gotten on the same 
article. The cost of these patents is $75 for a case with 
one sheet of drawings and $70 when no drawings are 
required. 



Desigrn Patents This patent is intended to protect originality of form 
when produced in an artistic manner. It can frequently 
be procured upon things which are well known and could 
not be patented as novel in their construction. Parts of 
machines, utensils, implements, furniture, or any useful 
thing having a new and artistic design may be protected 
by means of this patent. 

A design patent may be obtained for a period of three 
and one-half years, seven years, or fourteen years, but a 
design patent obtained for one of the shorter terms cannot 
be extended. The cost of a design patent is less than 
that of the structural patent, but may cost more than the 
regular price if elaborate drawings are required. I am 
in touch with some of the most famous illustrators in the 
country, and, when necessary, will have prepared for my 
clients artistic drawings finished in every detail. The 
ordinary cost of this form of patent is : Three and one-half 
years, $35 ; seven years, $45 ; fourteen years, $60. 

Caveats While, with the exception of the "design" patent, there 
is no actual patent granted for a short period, the statutes 
have made provision for those inventors who desire pro- 
tection for ideas while they are being developed, but which 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 37 



do not warrant the outlay required by the patent. This 
is the caveat, and it provides for the information of the 
inventor immediately if any one else files an application 
for patent on a similar idea, and forms a record of his 
conception of and diligence in developing the invention, 
which may give him a great advantage over the later appli- 
cant. The caveat is granted for a period of one year, 
and may be extended indefinitely from year to year upon 
the filing of proper papers before its expiration, accom- 
panied by the necessary fee, $10. The caveat is some- 
what similar to the patent application in form, as it requires 
a petition, a specification, written with the same care that 
is given the patent specification, including claims, an oath, 
and drawings on the same kind of paper and prepared 
with the same care as is used in the patent drawings. 

The disclosure should be as full as possible, and if the 
invention is incomplete, the end toward which the inventor 
is striving should be described in order that the concep- 
tion established will extend beyond the actual showing 
made with a consequent advantage in the event of the 
attempt of another party to patent a similar idea. 

It is inadvisable to file a caveat if an invention has 
been developed to a practical stage, for the benefit of 
the statutes is only given in return for making the idea 
available to the public, and if some one else files a patent 
application on the same idea covered by a caveat he 
obtains thereby a superior standing over the caveator. 
This is for the reason that the law recognizes the intention 
of the applicant for patent to make his invention public, 
while the caveator has made no such move. Also, a patent, 
giving full protection, costs but little more than a caveat 
and obviates entirely any possibility of loss of the rights 
of inventorship, while improvements in the original idea 
may be protected by subsequent patents, the cost of this 
method of procedure being of small consequence if the 



38 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



invention be of any considerable value. The total cost of 
a caveat is $30 if a simple case, and $15 for each yearly 
extension, including the attorney's fee of $5. 

Trade-marks The registered trade-mark is, in fact, a patent guarding 
the owner of a distinguishing design used in his business 
against its imitation. Many well-known articles on the 
market to-day have only been exploited because the patent 
laws prevented any one else from making use of some 
peculiar registered design used thereon or in connection 
therewith. It is usually the case that the trade-mark 
is of greater value to the owner than the privilege of 
producing the article to which it is applied. This is due to 
the fact that a great amount of money and time is spent 
in bringing an article of commerce to the attention of 
the public, and usually some peculiar name is given the 
article or some peculiar phraseology regularly used in 
connection therewith. Without trade-mark protection, after 
such expense, and when the article has become generally in 
demand, and perhaps before the owner has begun to make 
a proper profit, some other person could put a similar — 
perhaps inferior — article on sale, using the same name or 
phraseology, receiving the benefit of the previous develop- 
ment of the article and cutting down the sale of the 
original. The total cost of the trade-mark is $30, ordi- 
narily, but, as in design patents, if an unusually ornate 
and expensive drawing is required, I will give quotations 
on the work of a high-class artist. 

Copyrights Copyrights are one form of patent, and are given to 
protect literary, dramatic, musical compositions and publi- 
cations and art works of various kinds. The scope of the 
copyright is indicated by the following classification of 
subjects, published by the Copyright Office: 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 39 



"subject-matter of copyright 

"(a) Books, including composite and cyclopaedic works, 
directories, gazetteers, and other compilations; 

"(b) Periodicals, including newspapers; 

"(c) Lectures, sermons, addresses, prepared for oral 
delivery; 

"(d) Dramatic or dramatico-musical compositions; 

"(e) Musical compositions; 

"(/) Maps; 

"(g) Works of art; models or designs for works of art; 

"(h) Reproductions of a work of art; 

"(i) Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or tech- 
nical character; 

"(/) Photographs; 

"(k) Prints and pictorial illustrations." 

The obtaining of a copyright is very simple and not 
expensive, requiring simply a statement of who is the 
author of the work to be copyrighted, a statement of the 
title, who applies for the copyright, and where the work 
is published or made, and two copies of the finished work 
must be filed in the Congressional Library immediately 
after publication. In the case of books, the copies deposited 
must be accompanied by an affidavit, under the official seal 
of an officer authorized to administer oaths, stating that 
the typesetting, printing, and binding of the book have been 
performed within the United States. If the work is in 
the form of statuary or other bulky shape, photographs 
may be filed. I shall be glad to advise whether copyright 
protection may be obtained for any matter which is sub- 
mitted to me, or advise as to what other class of 
protection one should apply for if the copyright is not 
available. As a rule, in preparing and filing copyrights 
the only information necessary is the title of the work 
or article, the character of what is to be copyrighted, 



40 



A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



whether it is a picture, book, or otherwise; who is the 
applicant, whether he is the author or proprietor or both, 
and whether it is to be produced in this country or not. 
The life of a copyright is twenty-eight years, with privi- 
lege of extension for a second period of twenty-eight years 
if applied for within one year of the expiration of the 
first term. A single copyright costs $5, including both 
Government and attorney's fees. 



Prints and Labels 



There is provided an inexpensive form of protection for 
artistic "labels" which are pasted or fastened in any other 
manner to manufactured articles, cans, bottles, boxes, or 
other containers, which involves simply the filing of ten 
copies, with a statement of the name of the author, the 
title of the label, and the article to which it is to be 
applied, and a statement that it has never been published 
prior to the filing of the application for protection. 

"Prints" may be protected in a similar manner and are 
closely related to "labels," with the distinction that they 
are not attached directly to the article to which they relate. 
These are usually in the form of posters, circulars, or 
advertisements of various kinds. 

This protection consists in "registration" and is of a 
value like that of a trade-mark. Prints and labels so 
registered should be marked "registered," and if possible, a 
further statement that any one infringing will be 
prosecuted. 

The cost of registering a print or label, including all 
attorney's and Government fees, is $20, and twelve copies 
of the print or label should be furnished, together with 
the information as above mentioned. 



Foreign Patents Jhe advisability of obtaining foreign patents differs with 
the classes of inventions, but it is the case that the foreign 
rights on some inventions have been of greater profit to 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 41 



their owners than the American rights, and any device or 
machine which can be made to pay in this country should 
be protected properly in foreign countries. 

Its development there might be of great value, and 
considerable benefit be lost if left open to the use of 
others. The liability of loss is largely increased by reason 
of the fact that many European countries will issue a patent 
to the first applicant, whether he be the true inventor or 
not. In some foreign countries restrictions of various 
kinds are imposed upon patentees who are not citizens, 
such as requiring "working" within a certain period, vary- 
ing from two to five years, and the imposition of annual 
taxes, so that such patents might be simply a source of 
useless expense on many inventions. Inventions of any 
importance, however, should be protected, and this can 
be done at any time after the filing of the United States 
application, but before the issuance of the United States 
patent. In those countries which are members of the 
"International Union for the Protection of Industrial Prop- 
erty" the foreign protection may be obtained after the issu- 
ance of our patent, if applied for within one year of the 
FILING of the United States application. 

The payment of fees has been so arranged by our Gov- 
ernment, however, that a period of six months is allowed 
after the allowance of an application before the final fee is 
required for the issuance of the patent, so that if the 
inventor has not sufficient funds himself he has the six 
months to negotiate for the financing or sale of his inven- 
tion after the Patent Office has signified its patentability, 
and provision can be made for proper foreign protection. 

The scope for development of an idea is, of course, 
broader when amply protected abroad, and it will appeal 
that much more to a prospective buyer. 

Detailed information as to the requirements in particu- 
lar countries will be furnished upon request. 



42 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



Begistration under Any person manufacturing a food, such as preserves, 
the Food and so ft d r j n ks, ketchup, candy, canned vegetables, meats, etc., 
or a medicine of any kind, may register the same with the 
Department of Agriculture, upon compliance with the legal 
requirements. This form of registration is under the 
control of the Department of Agriculture, and costs $5. 



Drug Act 



What to Do to Get 
Protection 




HEN an idea involving improvement in 
any device or machine occurs to you, it is 
desirable to explain to some one or two 
trustworthy persons what the function of 
the invention is to be, without necessarily 
disclosing details of its construction. 
A drawing of the details of the inven- 
tion in the stages of its construction should then be made 
as well as possible, and witnessed by one or two persons, 
preferably not the first two, and as soon as the invention 
is completed it should be submitted to your attorney. The 
object of explaining the invention and having witnesses 
to the drawings showing its development, is to thoroughly 
establish the date of your perfection of the idea, so that if 
any one else should make application for patent on the 
same idea even before you file your own application, you 
would have the best possible evidence of your date of 
conception, which, if earlier than that which could be 
proved by the other party, would probably entitle you to 
a patent over him. You would be in a great measure 
protected against appropriation of your idea by any of 
the persons witnessing your drawings by the very fact that 
their signatures appear thereon as witnesses to your own 
invention, and you would be able to prove by the persons 
to whom your explained it that you were developing such 
an idea at a particular date; while the usurpers could not 

43 



44 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



prove, by truthful evidence, priority of conception, unless 
by an unusual coincidence. 

If an invention is a simple one, or one that could be 
perfected immediately, however, it is desirable to make 
rough sketches of it at once and submit to your attorney 
for his opinion as to its merits, and this forms one of the 
best records of your activity in any particular line. Imme- 
diate steps should then be taken for obtaining a patent if it 
is found to be patentable, and if subsequent improvements 
are made, these can be covered by additional patents, thus 
making the protection that much more effective, and there 
would be no delay which would give others an opportunity 
to file a similar application first. 

When to File In the event, however, that it is not possible to com- 
a Caveat p| e t e tne invention in a practical manner, and you fear 
the filing of an application by some one else for a patent 
on a similar idea, it is advisable to make application for 
a caveat, which gives you a measure of protection for a 
year and may be extended from year to year by the pay- 
ment of a small fee. This insures you of being informed 
in the event of the filing of an application for patent 
on the same invention, and gives you an opportunity to 
establish your rights, which must be done by filing a patent 
application and producing evidence of priority. It 
also forms one of the best possible forms of proof of 
conception. It confers no special privileges, however, and 
always, the first person to file his patent application is the 
"senior" party in the subsequent proceedings if there is 
another claimant for the same idea, and the burden of 
proof rests upon the last person to apply. 

Placing Your I n submitting the case to your attorney, while the draw- 

vention with j n should be as clear as possible ; it is not essential to 
an Attorney . 

employ a draughtsman to make highly finished illustrations 

and it will be sufficient for you to make rough sketches of 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 45 



the idea, particularly showing any peculiar details of con- 
struction separate from the complete device— not each ele- 
ment or part detached, but a few of them in their con- 
nected position when in use. At times it is found more 
practicable to make a model of an invention, and this 
may be easier for you to do; the model need only show 
roughly the essential features. If a completed device can 
be sent readily this should be done — or one or more photo- 
graphs might be sufficient. If you are not sure of the 
sufficiency of your drawings or model it will aid greatly to 
the certainty of their being understood if a careful descrip- 
tion of their construction and the manner in which they 
operate is added. Even if they are perfect drawings, the 
description of the operation is very desirable and should 
be added. It is also important to describe how the various 
important parts are manufactured; whether cast, formed 
of bent wire, stamped from sheet metal, or rolled or 
forged; and also whether they are formed from one piece 
of material or not. The formation of one or more ele- 
ments of a machine in such a way that they may be made 
from one piece of material where before it was necessary 
to use more, has formed the basis of a number of valu- 
able patents. 

If, in getting the invention into practical form, some Assistance in 
other person or persons make suggestions which are made inventing 
use of and form a part of the finished product, these do not 
necessarily give such persons the status of joint inventors, 
as invention consists not so much in providing the neces- 
sary mechanical elements to give an idea form as it does 
in appreciating that certain results are possible and desir- 
able. This rule does not apply literally in all cases, how- 
ever, as a particular method of forming a device or element 
in a machine often forms the subject of a patent. Attention 
is called to the paragraphs relating to Employer and 
Employe. 



46 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



In this connection, it may be stated that the attorney is 
usually well versed in mechanical construction, and if there 
should be difficulty in working out particular details of 
construction of an invention it is permissible for the attor- 
ney to suggest a method of overcoming the difficulty on 
the basis of the accepted doctrine in questions of employer 
and employe. 

If some one assists you with funds in return for an 
interest in the invention, a joint application cannot be 
filed, but the interest of the partner must be established by 
the recording of an assignment in the Patent Office. 

If some one does make so many or such valuable sugges- 
tions that he is entitled to its benefits, a joint application 
may be filed by the two. The degree of assistance ren- 
dered by either makes no difference, however; for, while 
one may have invented practically all the essential details 
and the other contributed but a small element, no dis- 
tinction is made between them in the patent application 
or the resulting patent. If the rights are not equal, an 
assignment is advisable, defining the respective interests, 
the patent being then issued jointly to the parties. 

When the idea jf y OU have completely worked out your ideas to a 



Is Complete 



practical point, either by the perfection of drawings or 
model, or simply by figuring it out in your head, as may 
be done in a great many instances, you of course, want 
to proceed to the development of the invention for your 
financial benefit, either by the sale of the rights therein or 
by its manufacture. But if you proceed at this stage to 
disclose its details to prospective buyers, or place it on 
public sale, you are exposed to the liability of having it 
copied and produced by others without any compensation 
whatever. Instances of this kind occur very frequently, 
the persons who take unfair advantage of inventors in this 
way often being their supposed friends. 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 47 



You must have protection against such loss, therefore, 
and this is what the Patent Office is for. As stated, you 
are free to file and prosecute your own application, but 
the records of the Patent Office show that such appli- 
cants who were not trained and experienced in the practice 
before the Office have invariably damaged their interests 
in one way or another, and many such cases have been 
referred to the writer for completion. It is not always 
possible, however, to take up such a case and obtain all 
to which the inventor is entitled. Many attorneys-at-law 
who are not versed in patent prosecution would not under- 
take to carry an application through the Office. It may be 
stated, therefore, as imperative that you employ an attorney 
to conduct the case, and a good patent attorney at that. 
The disclosure of your invention can readily be made by 
means of your own sketch, a model, or photographs of 
the device, accompanied by a careful description. 

As far as you know, perhaps, your invention is entirely How Novel Is 
new, else you would not have taken the trouble to work it Idea* 

out, but necessarily you have not been in a position to 
become acquainted with all such structures, devices, or 
compounds. It may be as you think, and again, there may 
be only a part of your idea that is novel, and this 
part may or may not be worth patenting. You should not 
file your application and risk the expense involved upon 
your own judgment as to its novelty. Neither should you 
file the application as a result of a simple statement by 
an attorney that it is patentable unless you know what are 
the patentable features. 

In order to place yourself in a proper position to learn Get Copies of 
what degree of novelty is possessed by your invention, Prior Patents 
and to decide whether the details that can be protected 
are worth the while, you must see what patents have 



Degree of Worth 
if Patentable 



48 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



already been issued for closely resembling ideas. And 
in order to facilitate your understanding of these, you 
should have advice from your attorney as to their bearing 
on your invention. It is customary with many attorneys 
to furnish such copies of patents and report for a nominal 
fee, though others treat them as of minor importance, many 
inventors being led to file their applications without such 
information. 

After seeing copies of patents and your attorney's report, 
it is possible that the scope of your idea will not appear 
as broad as you at first anticipated, and there may be 
only an improvement in some details over previous inven- 
tions, and you should consider whether this modified degree 
of protection would cover matter of sufficient value to you. 
It should be remembered, as stated previously herein, that 
some of the patents of the greatest value have simply been 
for improvement over previous structures, and the deter- 
mination of the value of an improvement of this kind 
involves a consideration as to whether it tends to lower 
the cost of manufacture, improves the function, or makes 
the improved article more readily or cheaply operated. 
The lowering of cost of manufacture may result from a 
simplification of parts by which less manual labor is 
required in their formation, or the elimination of elements 
and thereby requiring less time to assemble. The cost 
may also be lowered by the utilization of a lesser amount 
of material or by the provision of such a construction that 
a cheaper material may be employed than that used before. 

If the patentable points in, your idea involve any of 
the above advantages to a degree of sufficient importance 
from a practical standpoint, there would reasonably seem 
some warrant for making application for patent. On the 
other hand, while there might be no difficulty in obtain- 
ing a patent, because of the novel features in the idea, 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 



49 



it should be very carefully considered whether these would 
be of such practical value as to produce a proper return 
for the time and money required for its development. 

Having decided to file your application after seeing the Thorough 



nearest resembling patents, it is probable that your attorney 
will be in possession of sufficient data to enable him to 
prepare the specification and drawings in a satisfactory 
manner. But it is well to review the matter carefully, 
observing any deficiencies that may be present in the 
patents which you have inspected, the obviation of which 
might be accomplished by some further slight modification 
of your own idea. If such improvements occur to you, 
these should be added to the matter already in the hands 
of your attorney in order that they may also be included 
in the application, thereby adding to its value. 



Disclosure to 
Attorney Necessary 



When you instruct your attorney to proceed with the 
preparation of the application you should also arrange 
to have the drawings submitted for your inspection before 
the filing of the case, for, while the language may seem to 
describe what you have in mind,- it might also apply equally 
well to an inaccurate representation of the invention in 
the drawings which you would not be aware of without an 
inspection. Also, when reading the specification, the com- 
plete device may apparently be described and its opera- 
tion also, but it is possible that certain peculiar details should 
be more thoroughly described than they are at first in 
order to properly bring out the novelty of the construction 
and function of the invention. And such deficiency might 
not be apparent from a reading of the specification because 
of the great amount of language involved and the diffi- 
culty of carrying the complete details of the whole idea 
in the mind. If such details are carefully and accurately 
illustrated in the drawings, the necessary description may 



Importance of 
Seeing: the Official 
Drawings 



50 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



be added by amendment during the prosecution of the 
case. But you must bear in mind that nothing can be 
added to the case after filing which is not clearly shown 
in the drawings or described in the specification as filed, 
if the novelty of the idea would be affected thereby. 

Different Ways If there is more than one way of constructing the inven- 
of Making t j Qn or i m p 0r tant details thereof, such modifications as 
may be considered most important should be illustrated 
and described, and the attorney will probably be able to 
obtain claims sufficiently broad to cover the modifications, 
or some of them, if the invention is not in an art where 
such progress has already been made as to limit the scope 
of the claim to one specific form of construction. When 
such a condition exists it will probably be disclosed by the 
preliminary examination of the Patent Office records. 

Novelty in Form jf- j s sometimes the case that an idea will not be patent- 



Not Always 
Patentable 



ably new, even when no prior patent is found which dis- 
closes its details. This may be because there are involved 
simply the application of methods or practice common in 
the particular art, or maybe in some other art; and while 
you probably would not be aware that such is the case, 
that would not warrant the allowance of your application. 
If an idea is extremely simple and depends more upon a 
peculiar principle rather than a peculiar construction, and 
no anticipating patents are found, it is sometimes desir- 
able to make an examination of the records in the Scien- 
tific Library of the Patent Office, where there are com- 
piled works and papers dealing with various branches of 
science, mechanics, and industry. Among these can be 
found descriptions of methods and processes pursued in 
various arts, so classified that matter bearing on a par- 
ticular invention may be readily found. The Examiners of 
the Patent Office make effective use of this Library and 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 51 



thereby frequently avoid granting patents for ideas which 
are not entirely new and therefore are not a proper basis 
for a patent. It would not be desirable from the inventor's 
standpoint to obtain a patent covering construction or 
principles which are not novel or which are not applied 
in a novel manner, because it would be possible for any 
one to invalidate the patent if they could prove the exist- 
ence more than two years previously of such idea or one 
so similar that the difference would not involve invention. 

Searches of the records should be made in trade-marks Trade-marks 
before filing just as is done in the case of patents. But Should bo Searched 
such investigation is not possible in the case of copy- 
rights, for there is no provision made therefor by the 
Government, and a copyright will be issued to any one who 
declares himself to be the real author of the work to be 
protected. 

Should you have an idea which some one else patents p^ta to be 
before you file your application, and you can prove that Considered 
you invented it first, or that the other did not invent it, 
and that you were energetic in your endeavors to make 
it available to the public, there is a possibility of establish- 
ing these facts in the Patent Office by Interference Pro- 
ceedings, and having a new patent granted to yourself, if 
you file an application for the idea within two years of 
the date of the patent. 



Abandoned Cases 



If an application has been filed and prosecuted to allow- Renewal of 
ance and the applicant fails to pay the final Government Forfeited and 
fee within the six months prescribed by law, the applica- 
tion is held to be forfeited, but is still preserved in 
secrecy, and may be renewed at any time within two years 
from date of the Official Notice of Allowance, upon pay- 
ment of a new filing fee of $15, no new drawings or speci- 



52 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



fications being required. The same application cannot be 
renewed twice, however. If more than two years has 
elapsed after the forfeiture, or a case becomes forfeited 
a second time, the inventor is free to file an entire new 
application. It is important to remember that the subject 
of an application which is abandoned through failure to 
complete the application formally or by non-prosecution 
with the period set by law, may be presented in a new 
application. In this, of course, and also in the renewal 
application, the benefit of the first filing date is lost to a 
considerable extent, and the application dates from the 
time of refiling or renewal. Because of this, some other 
person may have meanwhile established better rights to 
the same invention by greater diligence in making it avail- 
able to the public, and the original applicant may lose all 
benefit from his invention. 

Difference between It should be understood by inventors that they are not 
Patent and required to construct their inventions exactly as described 
in their patents if more desirable methods are discovered, 
but if the changes involve the use of details covered by 
other patents unexpired, the consent of the owner of such 
patent must be obtained or there is a liability of a suit 
for infringement. If the changes involve novel construc- 
tion, on the other hand, it is desirable to protect this by 
an additional patent or number of patents, as it is not 
always possible to cover improvements on entirely different 
elements of a device or apparatus in one case. 

Another thing to be borne in mind is that it is the 
duty and aim of the attorney to obtain for the inventor 
claims that will cover the principles of his invention as 
nearly as possible or to protect the construction in so 
broad terms that another person cannot avoid the claims 
by some slight change. Therefore, when the prepared 
papers are received, it must not be thought that the claims 



Manufacture 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 



53 



are not proper because they do not describe in detail the 
construction of all parts and their operative relation, for 
such a claim is a very limited one, as a rule. The less 
there is of specific construction described in a claim the 
wider the variations in construction covered and the more 
effective it is in preventing a competitor from producing a 
machine accomplishing the same objects without infringing 
the patent. 

While a good and properly protective patent requires the importance of 
services of an expert attorney, it is more important, per- Reliable Attorney 
haps, to have a proven reliable attorney, as some experts 
give scant personal attention to the general run of their 
cases and a few are most expert in getting their cases 
through the Patent Office with a minimum amount of 
work, which often means a minimum amount of protection. 



It is the idea of a great many persons that to the 
employer belongs the title to an invention developed by 
a workman or other employe in the course of his work 
and relating to machines or devices upon which he is 
employed. But this is not the case unless the contract 
under which such workman is employed specifically pro- 
vides that such inventions shall belong to the employer. 
And only the particular class of invention involved by the 
contract is thus affected, any improvements upon other 
machines than those upon which the workman is employed 
being his own. This applies to persons in the military 
service of the Government as in the various departments. 
A corporation or person may, however, in an agreement 
with an employe, stipulate that any improvements pro- 
duced by such employe on machinery or implements in the 
establishment in which he is employed shall belong to the 
employer, but in these cases it is usually necessary for 



Employer and 
Employe 



54 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



the employe to apply for the patent and assign it to his 
employer, as patents are granted only in the name of the 
actual inventor. 

Help in Perfecting Under the operation of this principle, an inventor is 
Mechanical Details enabled to employ a mechanic to perfect his ideas if neces- 
sary, and any novel structure developed by such mechanic 
in the development of the invention becomes the property 
of the employer. 

The writer is in touch with a number of experts who 
make a business of perfecting mechanical details in inven- 
tions which their originators have been unable to complete. 
These experts have been partly responsible for the com- 
pletion of ideas of some of the most noted inventors, and 
any clients who so desire may have their assistance at 
the nominal cost of their time, which usually amounts 
to but little, as it requires but a few minutes for them 
to conceive mechanism to produce almost any necessary 
mechanical movement, when the object of the inventor 
is once explained to them. 

Why You Employ Besides the handling of your application, you employ 
An Attorney an attorney in patent matters, in the first place, to 
properly advise you as to the patentability of your 
invention. But, as in every case where a lawyer is 
consulted, you should be also advised of any possible 
conditions existing which are likely to effect the value 
to you of the successful outcome of the attorney's efforts 
in your behalf in the event that you employ him to 
prosecute your case. This is extremely important in patent 
matters, and it is largely due to insufficient information 
as to matters bearing on their inventions (which their 
attorneys could have advised them of), that many inventors 
find themselves the possessors of patents which are of 
no benefit to them. This results frequently from the 
fact that the inventor is satisfied simply with a statement 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 55 



that his idea is patentable, and he files his application 
without ascertaining what is patentable in his idea. 

Under the usual practice of many attorneys, the inventors 
do not know what similar devices may have been already 
patented when they file their applications. Some of these 
never learn the effect of this even if they receive a patent, 
but a large number discover, when they try to sell their 
patent rights or start to put their devices on the market, 
that they do not cover sufficiently useful details to present 
a profitable investment. 

An "opinion" of patentability is of value only as Value of 
indicating the probability of the allowance of an application "°P mions " 
for patent on the idea involved (what the patent would cover 
is not always apparent) ; and a statement of patentability 
based upon an actual search of the Patent Office records 
is usually correct; but neither of these bare expressions 
should, in every instance, be accepted by the inventor as 
a sufficient basis for determining the advisability of making 
application for patent. He should ask to see copies of 
the nearest resembling patents and have a careful state- 
ment from his attorney as to how any details of his idea 
are met, or what points the attorney believes protection 
could be obtained for. 

One small detail of novelty will make an idea patent- 
able in which no protection whatever can be obtained for 
the features which the inventor may think are new, and 
a truthful statement that the device is patentable might 
convey no hint of this state of facts. 

The making of a search and statement is customary with 
attorneys when requested, and the usual charge therefor is 
from $5 up, according to the amount of work required — 
especially in considering the patents and preparing the 
report. Mr. Woodward performs this service as a cus- 
tomary part of the work on cases for clients intending to 



56 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



file an application when the search of the records is 
satisfactory. 

Thus, if the invention is in the client's opinion of too 
limited a scope to warrant the obtaining of a patent, the 
payment of a small fee covering the examination of the 
records and preparation of a careful statement of the 
effect of the prior patents would save the inventor $75 
or more, represented by the cost of a worthless patent 
which he might otherwise have received. In addition, 
there would be saved a large amount of time, which could 
be applied to the development of some more useful idea. 



MHMM 



My Method 
of Business 




fY METHOD of business is in strict accord 
with the foregoing relating to the prose- 
cution of applications and what the 
inventor should know. If you are an 
inexperienced inventor I will not take 
§J| advantage of you by obtaining for you 
a patent regardless of limitations, unless 
it is your desire and you are as fully informed as I of the 
attendant conditions. Experienced inventors will receive 
the same consideration. 

I expect to make less money by this method, but hope 
that loss will be compensated for by the confidence and 
appreciation of my clients. 

Knowing that a great many inventors desire to have 
simply the opinion of an expert as to the patentability of 
an idea before they devote their time and energy exten- 
sively to its development, I shall be very glad to render 
such an opinion in any case submitted. It might be possible 
that I would be able to say at once — arid it is usually 
possible for me to say with great certainty — whether a device 
is patentable or not, because of my familiarity with the 
files of patents in the Government records. A statement 
of this kind by any one, however, should be verified by 
an actual showing of the nearest resembling patents before 
an application for patent is filed. 

Briefly, you should send me a sketch, photograph, or To Place Your 
model — perhaps all three — of your invention, a statement Case 

57 



58 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



of what you believe is novel in the idea, and what is the 
least you would be satisfied to have protection for in a 
patent if granted. These should be accompanied by a 
first payment of $15 toward the cost of the patent, so 
that if a thorough examination of the Patent Office records 
discloses no patents preventing the obtaining of the degree 
of protection which you desire, I will at once prepare the 
petition, specification, and other necessary papers, sending 
these, together with the copies of the nearest resembling 
patents disclosed by the search, and my report, explaining 
why the patents do not bar the allowance of the desired 
claims; and explaining any other bearing they may have 
upon your case. If, however, the previous patents seem 
too closely to approximate your idea, I will forward these 
alone, together with a carefully prepared report, explaining 
why the anticipated points cannot be protected. You are 
then in a position to decide for yourself whether to pro- 
ceed further or not, and if you do not file your application 
the balance due you is returned, a charge of $5 only being 
made for the service rendered. 

As explained, you should see the drawings before filing 
the application. If you desire these sent with the speci- 
fication you should send a first payment of $25 with 
your sketches and model, for, as is the case with all 
attorneys, a large part of the first payment covers only 
the preparation of the application papers, and as the draw- 
ings involve an immediate expense on the part of the 
attorney, it is necessary to have the payment covering 
them in advance. After the payment of the first $25 the 
papers in a simple case, requiring but one sheet of draw- 
ings, are to be returned to me with a payment of $30, of 
which $15 is paid direct to the Government as the Filing 
Fee, and $15 is the remainder of the attorney's fee covering 
the prosecution of the case to a conclusion. After the 
allowance, a final Government fee of $20 is to be paid, com- 
pleting the cost of the patent — $75. 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 59 



For those clients who cannot well send the money in Extended 
the larger payments mentioned, I some time ago originated Payments 
a method by which the total cost may be paid in smaller 
amounts at such intervals as are suitable to themselves, 
without increasing the total cost. Under this method the 
payments are divided, in a simple case, as follows: 

First payment, $15, accompanying the sketch and descrip- 
tion, upon receipt of which the usual search of prior 
patents is made, and the application papers prepared and 
forwarded, accompanied by the closest patents and my 
report. 

Second payment, $30, to be returned with the papers 
and covering the preparation of the official drawings, the 
first Government or Filing Fee, and the placing of the 
application on file in the Patent Office for consideration 
and action in the regular way. In every case, unless other- 
wise desired, I submit the drawings to the inventor for 
approval, before filing. 

Third payment, $10, covering the completion of the 
prosecution of the application to a conclusion, which pay- 
ment may be made at any time within one year of the 
first official action upon the application by the Patent Office 
Examiner, notice of which I will at the time send to the 
client, my continuation of the prosecution being deferred 
until the recipt of such payment. 

Fourth payment, being the final Government fee of $20 
for the issuance of the patent, is payable at any time within 
six months after allowance. 

Each additional sheet of drawings, above one, adds $5 to 
the cost of the patent, and on account of the greater com- 
plication of such a case, the attorney's fee is increased $5 
for each added sheet under four. 

I shall be glad to advise you of the progress of work 
upon your cases, and, if desired, in important cases, will 
submit the actions of the Patent Examiners, together with 
my replies thereto, that you may suggest additions or 
modifications if any occur to you. 



60 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



As to Appeals I desire to say that less than ten per cent of the cases 
which I have prosecuted have failed of allowance before 
the primary Examiner, and I strive to terminate cases 
successfully without the expense of an appeal. But it 
occasionally happens that after obtaining the allowance of 
a number of claims, when, if I think my client entitled 
to broader protection and the Examiner holds a con- 
trary view, I advise my client as to the advisability of 
appealing to the Examiners-in-chief for the additional 
claim or claims, and allow such client to decide whether to 
take such course or not. 

Reports Upon j s hall be very glad to inspect any pending application 
of a client, upon request, and advise as to its condition 
and the probability of gaining an allowance. This advice 
will include a statement of the probable degree of protec- 
tion which can be obtained as indicated by the patents 
cited by the Examiner, and the matter presented in the 
specification and drawings of the application. This inspec- 
tion is calculated especially for cases filed by inventors. 
It is frequently the case that the specification and draw- 
ings are not prepared with the requisite attention to all details 
to afford a sufficient basis for claims properly drawn to 
the real features of invention, and as claims cannot be 
introduced without a sufficient showing in the specification 
or drawings, such an application would better be aban- 
doned and an entirely new one filed, which may be done 
under the Rules, and it should be considered that the 
additional expense would be compensated for by the broad- 
ened scope of the resultant patent. 

In my advice to clients as to the degree of patentability 
possessed by their ideas, I set forth in the plainest lan- 
guage possible the exact features of construction which 
appear to be novel in view of the prior devices, and state 
how broadly I think these could be claimed, avoiding in 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 61 



my explanation all technical expressions which would not 
be familiar to the ordinary person unfamiliar with patent 
practice. 

In submitting ideas to me for advice, while it is of 
course true that the more finished the drawing or model, 
the more efficient and thorough my work can be, yet most 
inventions can be clearly understood from even the most 
crude sketches or models. It is not necessary or advisable 
for the inventor to incur the expense of having mechanical 
drawings or model made, for by reference to such illustra- 
tions or model as the inventor may prepare the patents 
covering any similar devices can be found without difficulty. 
Where the inventor desires protection for an improvement 
on simply a small detail of construction in a large machine 
or mechanism, it is only necessary to send sketches or a 
model of the particular improved parts, leaving out the 
portions not involved. It is sometimes desirable, however, 
to show cooperating parts in operative position in order 
that the function of the improvement may be readily 
understood. 

When a case is placed in my hands, the drawings are 
always submitted to the inventor, together with the speci- 
fication, before filing, in order that he may see exactly 
how the case is going into the Patent Office, thus avoid- 
ing all possibility of error. 

The law permits searches of the Patent Office records Sare in Search 
to be made by any one, regardless of their experience 
or competence, and it is frequently the case that the 
Patent Office searches are made by inexperienced men 
and boys who, naturally, overlook details which an 
experienced man would not. 

I desire to state that the searches made for my clients 
are made by men who have proven to be highly efficient 
in this work before I employ them. 



62 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



Careful j n the preparation of applications, a passable descrip- 
epara ion o ^ Qn Q £ an mven ti on ma y be written by many untrained 
Applications i r . . ' ., . 

persons who are not able to anticipate the possible tests 

to which the language used may be subjected. 

On this point, I desire to say that I am actuated by an 
honest desire to obtain for my clients patents of maximum 
value, and if a case were submitted to me involving an 
art with which neither I nor my associates are familiar, 
I would not undertake its preparation and prosecution, 
but would rather assist the inventor to find elsewhere a 
specialist in such art as might be involved. 

I have facilities, however, for handling cases involving 
most of the scientific and mechanical arts, and have so 
arranged the system of my office that my own personal 
attention will be given to cases both in preparation and 
prosecution. I have taken a great interest in the study 
of electricity and have handled cases involving a printing 
telegraph with means for selective bringing into circuit 
from a central station any one or more branch stations, 
all operable over a single wire; means for destroying the 
tone in telephone circuits, operated by machine-generated 
current, which was at first alleged by the Patent Office 
Examiner to be inoperative or impossible of demonstration. 
(A number of claims were allowed early in the prosecu- 
tion of this particular case, but to obtain an extra broad 
claim covering the tone-destroying means, it was necessary 
for me to prepare an exhaustive paper, demonstrating, to 
the satisfaction of the Examiner, certain new principles 
in electricity which were involved in the machine.) 

My Work I have prosecuted many applications for patents on steam 
and gas engines of both the reciprocating and rotary type. 
I have a thorough understanding of the processes for 
recovering precious metals, and recently obtained the allow- 
ance of an extremely valuable application of this nature. 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 63 



Recently I obtained good claims for an astronomical 
instrument of a complex nature intended to demonstrate 
graphically the movements of the earth and the sun, involv- 
ing an explanation of the method of determining the direc- 
tion of inclination of the earth's ecliptic orbit, the extent 
of movement of the sun (relatively) north and south of 
the equator, the relation of the solar system to the zodiacal 
constellations, the method of calculating the procession of 
the seasons, and similar questions. 

I have successfully handled cases, including the follow- 
ing: A large machine for building railroads, including 
mechanism for conveying and laying both ties and rails 
and spiking the latter to the ties ; all kinds of agricultural 
implements; rail joints; railroad switches, brakes, and 
appliances ; wagons, harness, etc. 

In patenting simple appliances I have also been very 
successful, notable among which are: A preserve-jar 
spoon, once decided to be without merit by the Patent 
Office Examiner; a tweezer, once finally rejected; an 
exhaust nozzle for locomotives, also finally rejected at one 
time; a road building block, declared unpatentable by 
other attorneys, and also stated by the Patent Office Exam- 
iner handling the application to be without patentable merit, 
— has proven very valuable to its inventor; line tapper for 
electrical workers; a package binder, considered unfavor- 
ably by the Patent Office at one time. These latter do not 
involve scientific training so much as a thorough under- 
standing of mechanics, but in many cases require a keen 
appreciation of what constitutes patentable novelty and a 
clear understanding of the principles and precedents of 
patent practice. 

I am an expert photographer and have been very suc- 
cessful in obtaining patents for such apparatus. 



64 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



I also own one, and have possessed several different 
types of automobiles, including a steamer, and my famil- 
iarity with the various details of automobile mechanism 
has been of considerable value in bringing to a favorable 
issue many patent applications in this art. 

I have spent many years on the farm and therefore can 
appreciate from first-hand experience the principles of 
agricultural appliances, poultry-breeding accessories, and 
other constructions pertaining to farming and stock-raising. 

On the following pages are illustrations from patents 
prosecuted by me and illustrating in some degree the 
diversity of my work. 

Promptness j n the preparation and prosecution of cases placed in my 
hands the utmost promptness will be observed, and there 
is provided a specially arranged system for insuring prompt 
attention to all business of my clients. 



Sending Models, 



When models are sent to me they should be very care- 
Money, Etc. fully packed, in a suitable box, with crumpled papers or 
excelsior packing material so disposed as to support any 
frail portions against breakage owing to the severe vibra- 
tions incident to the handling which packages receive in 
shipment. It is advisable to have the box marked "top" 
and "bottom," and have the model secured to the bottom 
by means of suitable screws; paper or other suitable mate- 
rial should then be placed around the delicate portions of 
the model if there are any, so that these will not be jarred 
loose or broken. If the model is made of pasteboard, 
paper, or other easily bent material it should be enclosed 
in a wooden box, as pasteboard boxes are invariably crushed 
during shipment through the mails and are likely to be 
greatly damaged when shipped by express. Of course, 
strong metal castings need not be enclosed, and need simply 



943,592. 



T. E. B, 'Zt\ 

ROTARY OASOLENE ENGINE. 
APPLICATION TILED JOSE 26. 1*01 



JL r 2Sh 13 23 



Patented Dec. 14, 1909. 

2SIEETS-3IEET I. 




~<4rS 



3-7 



908,741. 



M. H. BtTPFINGTON. 

PACKAGE BINDER. 

APPLICATIOK FILED 8EPT. 3. 1907. 



Patented Jan. 5, 1909. 




Patents prosecuted by Mr. Woodward 



950,814, 



R. L. BROWN & S. F. BATES. 
BA1LWAY TRACK LAYER. 

APPLIOATIOR flLED FEB 25. 1909 



Patented Mar. 1, 1910. 

10 SIEET8-IIEET 6. 




I 
i 



e lVU***&3€A 






», 



r 



/o 



Qtt&L+\**f. 



Detail of patent prosecuted by Mr. Woodward 



944,521. 



.M. M. ST'—— ~3. 

COLLAB SUPPORT. 
APPLICATION TILED KAB.30. 1908 



Patented Dec 2S, 1909 




928,954. 



g.fl .:a._ 

TRANSMISSION GEARING. 
APPLICATIOH FILED fEB. 4, 1909. 



Patented July 27, 1900. 

3 SBEET8-8HEBT 2. 




13 



Patents prosecuted by Mr. Wood-ward 



930,139, 



F.-J. BORER. 

SlQVki OOBD BANGER, 

APPLIOATIOI FILED OOT. t, 1408. 



Patented Aug. 3, 1909. 




TVa-nKJ.Borer. 






Patents prosecuted by Mr. Woodward 



J. I. FORD. 
OAB AND EK6IHE BETBAOXEB. 
AFFLICATIOH TILED JLPB. 10, 1909. 



936,439, 



Patented Oct 12, 1909. 

S 8HEETS-8S1ET 1. 




3#Uv»«;*«» 






s&; 



t^ O . u » (n %* « ■ * »T^*- 



£■£..£-. 



friirtn+tg* 



Patents prosecuted by Mr. Woodvjard 



70 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



have a tag attached thereto with the name of the sender 
and my address thereon. 

My name and address should be placed only upon one 
side of an express package. 

Be sure to have your name and address marked on the 
model or the ownership made certain in some other positive 
manner, as this will save considerable waste of time in 
my office in identifying and filing, and may avoid the loss 
of the device in transit. 

In making sketches and writing your letters, be sure 
to use one side of the paper only. On request, I will 
furnish excellent sheets of drawing paper for the making 
of sketches. Be sure to make the views sufficiently large 
to show the details involving novelty. A small general view 
of a machine will be sufficient if additional detail views are 
given showing important parts distinctly. 

When sending money it is preferable to use post-office, 
express, or telegraphic money orders, and if an inventor 
desires to save all time possible, it is very convenient to 
use the telegraph, though this is most expensive. Certified 
checks will be accepted for cash, but uncertified checks 
are subject to the delay necessary for collection, unless 
received from clients who have filed prior cases through 
me. The way to have a check certified is simply to ask 
the cashier of your bank to do so, and it costs nothing. 

The Value of I would caution you to be very careful in accepting any 
Your Patent a u e g e( i estimates of value of your invention made by 
either patent attorneys or patent sales agents, as it is the 
custom of some men in each class to set exaggerated 
values upon ideas submitted to them in order to induce 
clients to employ them upon particular cases. 

The value of an invention depends upon its cost to 
make, the price at which it can be sold, and the quantity 
which it is possible to sell. The first two figures you 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 71 



may be able to determine yourself, and, perhaps, you can 
approximate the quantity which may be sold by calculating 
the number of people to whom it should be essential and 
the number they require. But this is a matter of judg- 
ment, and probably, if you desire to sell your interests, 
any persons approached will determine the question for 
themselves. It is upon such judgment on the part of 
the investors that a sale depends. 

It is a common error on the part of inventors to 
set too high a value upon their patent rights, and while 
it is the case that many persons have received $50,000 or 
more for their ideas, the larger number of patents are 
not sold for such large sums. An inventor cannot always 
expect to obtain the full face value of his invention when 
the risks of the purchaser are considered, and unless such 
purchaser is in a favorable position to develop the idea 
he may possibly lose the entire amount invested and more. 
When a person buys a patent he can usually only derive 
a profit therefrom by immediately proceeding with its 
manufacture and accomplishing a considerable sale of the 
product. This involves an outlay of capital for plant, 
material and labor, and a large expense for advertising, 
so that should the investor's judgment have been at fault 
in buying, or if business conditions are unfavorable or 
his management inefficient, he may suffer a loss consid- 
erably greater than the price of the patent. 

While many notable inventors have derived their first, Getting Returns 
if not their principal returns from their ideas by the sale en Patents 
of their rights in certain improved devices, yet others 
have done as well by starting the manufacture of their 
inventions themselves. A great many of these began in 
a very small way, and perhaps at first did not make more . 
than a bare living, but they were able to gradually enlarge 
their output, or, by proving that their ideas were practi- 



72 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



cable and would appeal to the public, were able to interest 
large enough capital to put their enterprise upon a sub- 
stantial footing. In a large number of cases the latter 
method is the most certain way to succeed, and I believe 
that the larger number of successes with inventions of 
to-day are made in that way. 

It is questionable whether Edison would have made 
such rapid progress in his work if it had not been for the 
sale of one of his first inventions for a figure close to 
$40,000. 

On the other hand, Westinghouse, who invented the 
airbrake, had to stick to it, with slight assistance, until 
it was put in use, and he derived many millions of dollars 
from the invention by remaining in control of its commer- 
cial development. 

How to Get a There are many different ways of getting in touch with 
Partner persons willing to take an interest in inventions, and I 
will be glad to advise you specially on this point after 
understanding the nature of your idea, and what, if any, 
arrangement you have decided would be acceptable to you. 
It is customary, however, for a great many inventors to 
first obtain from their attorney a statement of their opinion 
as to its patentability, and if this is favorable, it pro- 
vides them with a substantial basis for a partnership 
proposition. It would be better to first have an examina- 
tion of the Patent Office records and a report thereon made, 
which I will be glad to do at a cost of $5. If this is favor- 
able, an even better showing can be made, as you can then 
make apparent to the persons approached just how great 
an advance your invention is over the prior ones, and 
some of the possibilities of its commercial development 
may be proven by comparison. It would be well in 
approaching many persons to remind them of the possi- 
bility that you are offering them an opportunity that may 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 73 



be on a par or of the same nature as those afforded by 
the notable instances above mentioned, or many others 
of the kind. For instance, it is well known that Morse, 
the inventor of the telegraph, offered interests in 
his idea for sums which now seem ridiculous. A half 
interest in the telephone was offered by Mr. Alexander 
Graham Bell for $2,500, and to-day the American Bell 
Telephone Company is worth close to one hundred millions 
of dollars. The fact that inventions are a good form of 
investment is also testified by the fact that a special 
division is required in the Patent Office, employing more 
than fifty clerks, to handle the recording of assignments 
and other papers relating to the sale of patent rights, which 
involve tremendous sums in the aggregate. Note the 
following : 

If you succeed in disposing of a part or the entire Assignments 
interest in your invention, the rights of both parties should 
be guarded by an assignment duly recorded in the Patent 
Office. An assignment can be filed either before or after 
the filing of the application or after the issuance of the 
patent. If filed before the issuance of the patent, the 
Government will issue the patent jointly to the inventor 
and assignee — but matter to that effect must be included 
in the assignment. It should be remembered, however, 
that the filing of an assignment does not change the 
status of the inventor, and the application for patent can 
only be made in his name. The cost of recording an 
assignment is usually $5, including the Government fee, 
but this charge may be increased if there are any special 
conditions expressed. 

If you carry through your patent alone, or in conjunc- 
tion with an assignee, it is sometimes more practicable to 
sell territorial or shop rights than to dispose of the entire 
interest in the invention. By territorial rights is meant the 



74 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



right to manufacture, sell, and use the patented article in 
a particular locality, county, or state, or group of states. 
In this way the whole country may be parceled out 
among a large number of different manufacturers, while 
a number of shops in a given locality not covered by 
a territorial grant may be given the same privileges. 
It may also be found desirable to grant such privileges 
even when you are manufacturing yourself, allowing the 
other party to develop territory which you cannot well 
handle yourself. 

Royalty agreements of various kinds may also be made 
profitably, and these and the first-named contracts range 
in cost from $5 to $25, according to their nature and length. 
All such papers may be recorded in the Patent Office, and 
I shall be glad to handle the preparation of these, 
which are of extreme importance and should not be pre- 
pared by any but an experienced person. As in similar 
legal papers, such as deeds of sale, etc., the originals of ail 
such papers should be retained by the purchaser or other 
person to whom rights are conveyed. Certified copies of 
any such papers may be obtained by any one from the 
Patent Office at a small cost. 

The Sale of the I do not undertake the sale of patents, but in order to 



Patent 



assist my own clients I have arranged with clipping bureaus 
to send me all matter discovered in various publications 
relating to persons known to be in the market for invest- 
ments in the nature of patents and inventions, sets of 
which names I will forward to my clients from time to 
time without extra charge. These will include some people 
who have advertised to purchase patents, and others who 
are reported to have purchased rights in certain inven- 
tions, and represent the very best class of people with 
whom to negotiate for a sale. 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 75 



Also, for the promotion of inventions in another way, 
I have obtained the latest corrected lists of manufacturers 
in all known lines of goods and machinery, and will be 
glad to furnish free one list of twenty, or as near that 
as possible, who are manufacturers of articles of any 
particular class, for each case filed through me. 

In addition to this, I will be glad to insert an adver- 
tisement making a brief mention of the invention for sale, 
in ten of the most prominent daily newspapers (an idea 
original with me) under the heading of "Business Oppor- 
tunities," which matter, it is well known, is largely read 
by small capitalists and many large ones looking for 
investments, and I know that results have come from 
such advertising. The papers used reach over 2,000,000 
people. I would say, however, that, as the cost to me of 
this advertising is $1 per line net, including all discounts, 
it is not possible to give more than the simple announce- 
ment that the particular invention is for sale, and that any 
reasonable proposition will be considered. All inquiries 
as to particular inventions advertised are referred directly 
to the respective clients. This form of advertising might 
not be the best for certain special classes of inventions, 
but it is useful for small articles and appliances, especially 
mail-order novelties. 

If it is desired by any clients to arrange for a special 
form of advertisement, or for a special number of pub- 
lications, I will be glad to put them in direct touch with 
the advertising agency so that they may obtain the neces- 
sary quotations and expert advice without delay. 

The list of papers which I use includes the following: 
New York Times, Pittsburg Dispatch, Boston Traveler, 
Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cincinnati Times-Star, St. Louis 
Globe-Democrat, Chicago Inter-Ocean, Indianapolis News, 
Buffalo Express, Philadelphia North American. 



76 



A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



Value of Personal 
Presentation 



While we are to-day witnessing an era in which nearly 
everything is promoted by advertising, it is generally the 
case in any business proposition that personal presentation 
thereof is the most effective way in which to accomplish 
results. This may be done by visits or by correspond- 
ence: the latter, being the least expensive method, would 
appeal to a larger body of inventors. Therefore, in con- 
junction with the list of manufacturers and the list of 
investors above mentioned, I also supply a list of sug- 
gestions to clients which may be of use in guiding some 
of them when writing or otherwise negotiating with pros- 
pective buyers of rights in their inventions. This includes 
a form letter which gives an idea of how to put a propo- 
sition before a busy man without waste of language, and 
yet with clearness and force. 



Assistance in In communicating with such persons it is, of course, 
Selling: desirable and important to make as pleasing an impression 
as possible, and this might not be done by writing out with 
pen or pencil the description of the invention. Neither 
will letters written on plain or cheap paper do other than 
cause some indifference to the communication. In order 
to properly equip those clients who desire it, I have orig- 
inated a peculiarly attractive set of circular matter, letter 
heads, and envelopes, printed in good taste and on paper 
as good as that which I use in my own correspondence, 
all of which is supplied for $15. This includes the writing 
of a descriptive circular by an expert, pointing out the 
adaptability of the particular device to commercial exploita- 
tion; 500 circulars with an illustration of the invention, 
the photo-engraving from which the illustration is printed 
being sent to the client, so that he may make any other 
use of it which he desires ; 500 letter heads, also having 
an illustration of the invention thereon; an additional 
special list of manufacturers to that regularly sent, and 



BY HORACE L. WOODWAED 77 



a set of blank contracts covering various assignments of 
rights, such as shop rights, territorial licenses, and one 
form of royalty contract. With this matter in hand, the 
inventor is placed in a very good position for the suc- 
cessful exploitation of his ideas. 

As to my reliability, I take pleasure in referring you References 
to the following representative men, who have known me 
personally : 

Mr. William D. Hoover, President of the National Safe 
Deposit, Savings and Trust Company, Washington, D. C. 

Mr. Frederick L. Siddons, an upright lawyer, of national 
prominence, Bond Building, Washington, D. C. 

Mr. C. W. P. Stodder, Cashier of the Evening Star 
Newspaper Company, Washington, D. C. 

Samuel G. Blythe, prominent writer on national and 
international topics, The Saturday Evening Post,New York. 

Maj. John M. Carson, Chief of the Bureau of Manu- 
factures, Department of Commerce and Labor, Washing- 
ton, D. C. 

Mr. D. A. Craig, Congressional representative of the 
Nezv York Herald. 

Mr. I. R. Norwood, Congressional representative of the 
Evening Star. 

Mr. J. A. Truesdell, Washington representative of the 
Army and Navy Journal, Metropolitan Bank Building, 
Washington, D. C. 

Mr. E. M. Hood, representing the Associated Press in 
the State, War, and Navy Departments at Washington; 
address, care Associated Press, Star Building, Washington. 

As to evidence of actual work for inventors, I would 
say that I am not at liberty to refer to the majority 
of persons whose cases I have handled, owing to the 
terms of an agreement by which I severed my relations 



78 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



with a well-known firm. I take pleasure in giving the 
following limited number of names of clients picked at 
random from among those whom I have served: 

Mr. George W. Scott, exhaust nozzle for steam engines, 
which was held unpatentable by the Examiner handling 
the case, but the allowance of which I obtained by several 
lengthy arguments. His address is Kansas City, Kans. 

Mr. Fritz Marti, thermostatic motor, Gamboa, Panama. 

Messrs. R. S. Brown and S. F. Bates, railway track- 
laying machine, Stanton, Mo. 

Mr. C. A. Beghtol, Canon City, Colo., whose application 
for contact former for line tappers was unfavorably con- 
sidered by the Patent Office Examiner, but finally allowed 
under my handling. 

Mr. M. A. Buffmgton, Moline, 111., currency binder; 
allowed only after several lengthy personal arguments 
which I had with the Examiner to overcome his at first 
unfavorable opinion. 

Miss Ida B. Harn, Hoopeston, 111., preserving jar spoon 
— a difficult case. 

Mr. H. C. Joiner, Sweetgrass, Mont, pipe attachment. 

Mr. Walter Van Wie, San Diego, CaL, revolving kite. 

Mr. Jas. M. Bugg, Light, Miss. He had a most efficient 
post-hole auger, adapted to be formed principally from 
but two pieces of metal; and which, at the same time 
that it performed the excavating operation effectively, also 
provided a receptacle that would retain the dirt securely 
for removal from the hole. Owing to the limited class 
to which the invention belonged, the allowance was only 
obtained with extreme difficulty. 

Mr. F. J. Borer, Westfield, N. J., for whom I obtained 
the following extremely broad claim on a signal cord 
hanger: "A bell cord hanger having a universal joint and 
a circumferential resilient member engaged therearound 
to yieldably resist lateral movement of the hanger." 




t uimamxg g 



3XEX03XOXBCB3333 




Wh©Lt to Invent 




ANY persons have ideas that would be 
applicable in certain situations, or they 
may be fitted to invent improvements in 
some art, but not having their minds 
directed toward these in the right way, 
do not appreciate their ability. For the 
benefit of these I give hereafter a list of 
devices which it is generally conceded afford favorable 
openings for profitable improvement. 

There are many such, the ordinary possibilities of which 
are almost entirely exhausted, this being a matter of 
common knowledge among persons in close touch with 
the patent records and practice. There have been filed 
many hundreds of applications in very restricted arts, 
which, if not finally rejected, result in very limited protec- 
tion, and many of the applicants may not have been aware 
of the limited nature of such inventions. 

I will therefore give, on later pages, some of these, not 
saying, however, that it is not worth while to invent along 
those lines, but simply that they have been well developed 
and that ideas of the kind need to be of considerable nov- 
elty and value to be worth making application for patent on. 
As to what are conceded to be desirable lines of 
invention : 

Mr. H. H. Windsor, Editor of Popular Mechanics, says 
in that magazine for April, 1910: 

"Fifteen years ago gasoline sold in barrel lots at 2 cents 
per gallon, while kerosene brought 12 cents. To-day, owing 

79 



80 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



to the gas engine, gasoline brings about 15 cents, while 
kerosene can be had at 6 or 7 cents per gallon. Inasmuch 
as three per cent is a fair production of gasoline and 
sixty per cent of kerosene from a gallon of crude oil, it is 
obvious that the next important advance in the internal 
combustion engine will be such changes as shall make the 
use of kerosene as generally practical and desirable as 
gasoline. Indeed, with the steadily large increase in the 
combustion of gasoline, the time is rapidly approaching 
when its price will be a burden, as, in fact, it is already 
in England and Europe. 

"A given quantity of kerosene actually contains about 
seventeen per cent more heat units than gasoline, and is 
subject to much less variation in quality. It is also com- 
paratively safe, though unpleasant to handle, and causes 
grease spots ; yet it does not waste from evaporation. 

"The inevitable conclusion must be such changes in the 
gas engine as now used for many purposes as will utilize 
kerosene, of which millions of barrels are already held 
in storage for want of a market. Some progress has 
already been made in this direction, but there is still 
much development to be made, and the field offers large 
rewards to successful inventors. " 

It is, therefore, evident that means for adapting kerosene 
(coal oil) to use in gasoline engines or other situations 
where gasoline has been used should be of considerable 
value. Special engines for utilizing the explosive force 
of gas developed from kerosene might be desirable. 

I would suggest that the possibility of utilizing the 
heat of the explosion to vaporize the oil be considered. 

Mr. Windsor says further: 

"A well-known English engineer declares the steam 
turbine to be but a step in the evolution from the recipro- 
cating steam engine to the eventual power, which will be a 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 81 



gas turbine, and that the steam turbine, while a decided 
advance in itself, is not destined to have a prolonged 
existence. 

"From the old-style, unreliable gas engine of fifteen 
years ago, developing only a few horse-power, to the 
big 2,000-horse-power units now operating in large steel 
works, marks a distinct era. As yet the feature of size 
is against the large unit gas engine, which occupies double 
the space of a steam engine of equal power. The perfect 
gas turbine may not be realized for some years, but it is 
destined to come, and the man in whose brain it is con- 
ceived will take place among the greatest in the history 
of mechanical invention and discovery." 

A large number of rotary engines have been patented, 
and many are extremely efficient, but a particularly good 
idea of this kind should pay. It is also evident from Mr. 
Windsor's words that the best types of gas engines in 
use are too large in proportion to the power developed. 

There was introduced in the present Congress (the Sixty- 
first) a bill appropriating $5,000,000 to build submarine 
boats during the current year. The number of types 
of these vessels is limited, and ideas relating thereto would 
pay if practicable and effect an improvement. It is prob- 
able that with the development of airships more depend- 
ence could be placed in such vessls than upon surface 
operating ships. 

During the year 1909 there were built 115,000 automo- 
biles in the United States alone, the value of which was 
$230,000,000. Each year additions are made to the attach- 
ments placed on cars, and manufacturers are eager to 
obtain novelties which will make their machines appeal 
to the public more than they did before, or make them 
more desirable than the other cars. Improvements of value 



82 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 

in this industry are rapidly taken up, and many are very 
much needed. Among these are: 

Quickly removable tops. 

Easily and quickly adjusted storm curtains. 

Readily adjusted windshields. 

A sparkplug that will not become fouled or short- 
circuited. 

A carbureter that does not have to be adjusted. 

Improved vibrating device for spark coil. 

Substitute for rubber (many spring wheels have been 
patented). 

Means for efficiently cooling engines without water, or 
which will not freeze. 

Improved valves which will not easily carbonize. 

Means for lubricating gas engines thoroughly without 
fouling the explosion chamber and sparkplugs. 

Better commutator. 

Improved clutch, utilizing the principle of valve-retarded 
fluids. 

Improvement in warning devices. 

Improvements in brakes, and improvements in steering 
connections. 

A southern railroad is this year trying out an inven- 
tion for preventing train collisions automatically, and while 
a number of such devices have been patented, there is a 
possibility for a thoroughly practical and economical device 
of this kind to be profitably exploited. 

The "Airship" To-day, machines for navigating the air provide one 
of the most active fields of invention, and it is being devel- 
oped with rapid strides in all the European countries, the 
United States, and Canada. 

There are two important branches of this development. 
One follows the line of perfecting the "dirigibles" or 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 83 

^ — ^— — — — ^— ■■■■■■■■ ^^— 

dirigible balloons, under which title are included any struc- 
ture filled with gases lighter than air, and therefore float 
in the air as an ordinary ships floats on water. The 
other branch leads to the creation of heavier-than-air 
machines maintained in suspension by mechanical means, 
and including "helicopters," "aeroplanes," and, perhaps, 
"hydroplanes," which are a peculiar combination of water 
and air vessels. While it is generally conceded that the 
Wright Brothers of the United States have provided the 
most practicable heavier-than-air machine so f ar, yet Bleriot, 
Farman, Curtiss, and many others are undoubtedly making 
improvements that may represent a greater advance than 
that of the Wrights. Much money can be made by suc- 
cessful inventors in devising new methods of constructing 
various details of all these devices. 

Particular attention is directed to the problem of the 
automatic balance of the aeroplane, the value of which 
may be surmised from the fact that Mr. Curtiss has said 
that almost any price could be obtained for it by its 
inventor. 

Light-weight and powerful motors. 

More efficient propelling means than, or improvements 
in, the present rotary propeller. 

Any formation of planes giving greater lifting efficiency 
in aeroplanes. 

Better or cheaper fabrics or means for treating to make 
them impervious to air, gas and water. 

Method of constructing stronger and lighter frames for 
areoplanes and dirigibles. 

An idea which it has occurred to me would be extremely 
valuable to street railways is a mechanism for utilizing 
the force of momentum wasted in stopping cars to over- 
come their inertia in starting. It is probable that about 
fifteen times as much power is used to start a car and 
get it moving at normal speed as is required to maintain 



84 A TALK TO THE INVEN TOR 

it at that speed for a similar period of time, and if the 
force of the moving car overcome by the brakes in stopping 
could be stored or saved — even if only for a few moments — 
it would be almost sufficient to start the car and again bring 
it to normal speed, saving that much power. 
3l*etricity In spite of the tremendous strides which have been 
made both in the science and mechanics of electricity, 
many new applications of this power remain to be made, 
and machines adapting it to new uses are practically sure 
of success if worked out in a good mechanical form with- 
out involving too great an expense to manufacture, and 
hardly any limitation will apply to many such ideas. 

Notwithstanding Mr. Edison's improvements in the stor- 
age battery, it is still a very large and heavy device and 
any improvements tending to further reduce the size neces- 
sary for a given capacity will profit the inventor. 

Simplification of the construction of dynamos and motors 
is needed, especially those looking to a reduction of the 
quantity of metal used. 

Cheaper insulating means would be valuable. 

Think of a substitute for metal as a conductor or means 
for reducing the cost of transmission of current. 

Improve wireless telegraph apparatus. 

New means for producing electricity. 

Improvements in telephones and telegraph instruments. 

Some readers of my book may be familiar with descrip- 
tions of methods or appliances for obtaining power from 
the sun, but whoever conceives something that may be 
installed upon the farm without great expense, or devises 
apparatus for use in a large plant will certainly benefit 
humanity and be deserving of the usual reward therefor. 

Likewise, improved turbines or other machines for util- 
izing the force of waterfall or wave motion should be 
valuable, although many patents for such have been issued. 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 85 



An automatic electric shoeshining machine is to-day 
earning a fortune for its promoters, more than a million 
dollars are invested, and companies are being organized in 
all the large cities for its operation. I have had my shoes 
shined by it, however, and, in addition to the fact that 
it does not operate any too well, it is large and clumsy, 
and will involve a considerable expense for installation 
and upkeep. The machines sell for $500 each. Why not 
produce a better and cheaper one? 

Children get tired of the old toys, and want new kinds 
each year. There is always an open field for cheap nov- 
elties of this kind that will appeal to the public. Also, 
novel mechanical toys are desirable. Many manufacturers 
feel it necessary to produce some new ideas of this kind 
each year in order to keep up their trade. 

I would suggest that you observe what materials are 
thrown away in large quantities by factories or elsewhere, 
consider their constituents, and try and devise some use 
for them, as many million dollars' worth of valuable prod- 
ucts are to-day obtained from material that was formerly 
considered worthless, such as coal tar, from which many 
valuable dyes and chemicals are obtained; and the residue 
from refined petroleum, from which vaseline, paraffin wax, 
and other valuable products are now obtained. This line 
of invention has recently resulted in the recovery of large 
quantities of gold, silver, and copper from the dump piles 
of the refineries. 

Within recent years there has developed an important 
branch of commerce known as the "Mail-order Trade," 
which comprises numerous large and small firms through- 
out the world who sell their products through the medium 
of the mails, the sales being created by means of more or 
less extensive advertising. The firms in this business are 
mostly all wide awake and on the lookout for new devices 
which can be readily shipped through the mail, and which, 



86 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



by proper advertising, will create a ready demand by the 
public in general, or even among special classes of persons. 

Other ideas which have been frequently mentioned as 
affording opportunities for profitable activity for inventors 
are the following: 

Malleable or less easily fractured glass than that now 
in use. 

Quickly operable street-car brake requiring little exertion. 

Improved railway-building machinery. 

Means for preventing the fouling of hulls of vessels. 

Cheap camera shutter that will operate accurately. 

Photographic novelties. 

Improved printing frames. 

Cheap and positively operating safety appliances for 
grade crossings. 

Improvements in excavating machinery for tunneling, 
ditching, and grading. 

Bottle that cannot be refilled with whisky. 

Improved life preservers that will occupy a small amount 
of space. 

Safety devices for use in case of fire. 

Rein having a detachable hand portion which may be 
lengthened or shortened. 

Means for letting off and taking on passengers of rail- 
way trains without stopping the train. 

Home refrigeration devices at low cost. 

Sheet metal and wire appliances and specialties. 

New appliances for tobacco users. 

Mucilage bottle that will not clog. 

Adjustable picture hanger. 

Games to sell for 25 cents. 

Home clotheswashing machine to sell for about $5. 

Moving stairway of a simple and durable construction 
that could be profitably installed in small office buildings 
and apartment houses. 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 87 



Means for removing insects from growing plants without 
damaging the plants. 

Machine for stamping name and date on eggs. 

Machine for picking feathers from fowls. 

Attachments for typewriters to number the lines as 
written. 

Improvements in type machines. 

Cheap process for addressing large quantities of letters 
and envelopes. 

Machines for sealing and stamping envelopes. 

Improvements in adding machines. 

Cheaper processes for manufacturing rubber and rubber 
tires. 

More durable and economical paving material. 

Animal traps. 

New stage machinery for creating novel effects in simu- 
lation of moving scenery, changes of hours and seasons, 
storms, eruptions, explosions, falling buildings, fires, etc. 

Rapid water heaters. 

Advertising novelties. 

Paving to lay beside car tracks; present materials break 
up adjacent surface, the rails leaving crevices. 

Improved cork pullers. 

Improved fire-extinguishing apparatus for the home. 

Thermostatic regulators for incubators and brooders. 

Improvements in poultry-breeding apparatus and appli- 
ances. 

A simple device for shutting off the gas when it goes 
out. 

Improvements in wearing apparel. 

Improvements in kitchen appliances such as eggbeaters, 
dishwashers, coffee-grinders, etc., which may be sold at a 
low price. 

Simple means for keeping the trolley wheel on the wire. 

Improvements in cow-milking apparatus. 



88 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



Simple means for recording messages sent on the 
telephone. 
Automatic fuel-feeding attachments for domestic stoves. 

Following is a list of articles which it is presumed by- 
many afford fields where improvement is greatly needed 
and in which there will be little difficulty in turning to 
account any novel construction therein. But it is desired 
to state that in every instance there have been granted 
numerous patents for devices performing the necessary 
functions, and only an invention remarkable for excep- 
tional simplicity, cheapness, or efficiency over the previous 
patented devices can be said to be worth considering. It 
is possible for desirable improvements to be made in these, 
but, as stated, it must possess considerable merit to achieve 
success when there is such a multiplicity of similar pat- 
ented devices. Then, too, if a person is in a position to go 
ahead with the manufacture of one of these devices he 
might easily succeed with almost any good construction 
in spite of previous patents. You should be especially 
careful, however, to have a thorough search made of the 
patent records before applying for patent on one of these, 
and have at least six of the nearest resembling patents 
sent to you: 

i. Monkey-wrenches. 

2. Nutlocks. 

3. Rail joints. 

4. Traps. 

5. Whip locks. 

6. Folding crates. 

7. Horse releasers. 

8. Hand planters. 

9. Folding umbrellas. 
10. Railway switches. 



BY HORACE L. WOODWARD 89 



ii. Trolleys that automatically replace themselves when 
they come off the wire. 

12. Reservoir feed fountains. 

13. Burglar alarms. 

14. Refrigerator alarms. 

15. Incubator alarms. 

16. Door checks. 

17. Can openers. 

18. Soap holders and dispensers — liquid or solid. 

19. Bottle stoppers. 

20. Non-refillable bottles. It is said, however, that no 
satisfactory device of this kind has been produced that will 
operate to prevent the refilling of a bottle with spirits, 
and several thousand dollars have been offered by different 
whisky manufacturers for an approved bottle of this kind. 

21. Metal railroad ties with or without wooden core or 
an equivalent. 

22. Fertilizer distributers. 

23. Posthole augers. 

24. Self-closing gates. 

25. Hitching devices. 

26. Churns. 

27. Cement posts. 

28. Ventilating apparatus. 

29. Street-sweeping machines. 

30. Fruit pickers for large fruit (there is considerable 
room for improvement in devices for use on small fruits, 
such as cherries, strawberries, cranberries, and the like). 

31. Single-delivery matchboxes. 

32. Haybalers. 

33. Railroad spikes. 

34. Adjustable shade and curtain brackets. 

35. Horseshoe calks. 

36. Temperature regulators for incubators. 

37. Railway signal devices. 



90 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



38. Garment holders, such as garters, suspenders, buckles. 

39. Spring wheels. 

40. Detachable automobile tires. 

41. Non-skid devices for penumatic tires. 

42. Speed-changing gears. 

43. Paper clips, and 

44. Draft equalizers. 




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Index 



Where there is matter in several places bearing on a 
question from different points, the several pages involved 
are given. 



PAGE 

Progress of Invention 3-11 

Training of Inventors 9 

Opportunities To-day (see What to Invent, p. 79) 11 

Constitutional Provision for Patents 13 

Who May Apply 13 

Who May Prosecute 17 

Life of the Patent 14 

The Patent System 15-16 

Patent Records 18 

What the Application Must Include 19 

Drawings 20, 49 

How to Learn the Scope of An Invention 24, 47, 61, 88 

"Improvements" 26 

Claims — Examples from Practice 27 

Appeals 32,60 

Interferences 33 

Structural Patents 34 

Composition Patents 35 

Process Patents 35 

Design Patents 36 

Caveats 36, 44 

Trade-marks 38 

Prints and Labels 39 

91 



92 A TALK TO THE INVENTOR 



PAGE 

Copyrights 38 

Food and Drug Act Registration 42 

Foreign Patents 39 

What to Do to Get Protection 43 

Placing a Case with An Attorney 44; 57 

Assistance in Perfecting Mechanical Details 45, S3, 54 

Employer and Employe. 53 

Value of An Invention 12, 23, 48, 70 

Sale of Patent Rights 71, 74-76 

Modifications of Construction 50, 52 

Renewal of Forfeited or Abandoned Applications... 51 

Why You Employ An Attorney 54 

Opinion of Patentability 55 

Mr. Woodward's Business Methods 57 

Payment of Fees 59 

Mr. Woodward's Work 27, 62-63, 65-69 

Sending Models 64 

Partners, How to Get 72 

Assignments y^ 

References yy 

Danger of Delay (see Points to be Considered, p. 51) . ^ 

What to Invent 79 

What NOT to Invent 88 



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